Saber Marionette Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Sake ❯ Chapter 1 ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Bad Sake
Part One: You and Me and the Bottle Makes Three...
A Saber Marionette J Fan Fiction
by
Lady Aoi

Summary: Fireworks, food and a special brand of sake make the marionette's Valentine's Day that much more surreal... Cherry/Otaru and Bloodberry/....you'll see.
Rating: PG-13 Because it's SMJ
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Mine? *laughs*
Lady Aoi's Notes: This fic was written under the influence of several mike's hard lemonades and the stresses of college coursework. It's also a joke. Enjoy!

~*~*~*~
"Cherry?" Bloodberry called as she slid the apartment door closed behind her. "Found the onions you needed!"

"Naze?" Bloodberry almost laughed out loud as Cherry peered through the kitchen door. The smaller marionette's purple hair was slightly frazzled in its long ponytails and her face and hands were smudged with flour, chocolate, and soy sauce.

She also appeared to have a large cluster of sesame seeds stuck on her chin.

"Che, she looks like a movable feast!" Bloodberry giggled to herself. "With a face like that, there's no way in hell Otaru will want her to spend Valentine's Night with her!"

"Bloodberry!" Cherry snapped, placing her hands akimbo. "What ARE you laughing at?!"

"Eh?" Almost instantly, Bloodberry's mind snapped from images of the wild evening she had planned for Otaru to the very real (and very angry) marionette standing in front of her.

"Oh, nothing, Cherry," she said, smiling broadly. "Nothing at all."

"Humph! According to my calculations, it would have taken you ten minutes at the most to get those onions."

"Yeah, so..." Bloodberry shrugged.

"SO?!? Bloodberry!!! You've been gone for three hours!"

"Well, maybe your calculations were wrong for once, Cherry! After all," smiling, Bloodberry poked an accusing finger into the lavender-haired marionette's chest. "With Valentine's Day here and all, you must certainly feel as if you don't quite... measure up."

Cherry's face reddened considerably. "Explain yourself, Bloodberry."

"Feeling a little jealous, Cherry?" Bloodberry asked, shifting her ample bosoms slightly.

"Why you -- you have some nerve!" Cherry cried. "First you ruin my special Valentine's Day stew that I spent the last MONTH working to perfect, and now you -- you -- have you no shame?"

"Not a bit. Here," and with that, Bloodberry thrust the bag of onions into Cherry's small chest. "Have some onions, little girl."

"JUST WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE, YOU WASHED-UP, WRINKLY OLD HAG?"

"AND JUST WHO'RE YA CALLING A HAG, SHORTY?"
"WHY YOU --"

When Otaru Mamiya opened the door to his apartment a few minutes later, both he and Lime found both marionettes nose to nose and breathing heavily and angrily.

"Guys! What are you doing?!" Otaru cried as he interposed himself between the feuding parties. "For cryin' out loud, can't you stop fighting for once? Not even for Valentine's Day?"

"WELL DON'T LOOK AT ME, SHE STARTED IT!" Both marionettes cried, pointing an accusing finger at the other.

"I did not!"

"You most certainly did!"

"Who started yelling at me?"

"Who was two hours and fifty minutes late with the onions?!"

"Oh please! It's not as if I ruined your dumb dinner or anything!"

"Well if it's so dumb then maybe you wouldn't mind going without!

"Hey!!"

"GUYS!!!" Both marionettes blinked and stared at Otaru (who was now beginning to look truly upset). "Look, I dunno what happened while Lime and me were gone, but whatever it was, just drop it, okay? This isn't the day for fighting! Now, just shake hands and let's move on with things!"

Both marionettes muttered something non-conciliatory under their breaths.

"I said let's move on!"

Still glaring at one another, Cherry and Bloodberry shook hands.

"There! That's more like it!" Otaru said, nodding his approval.

"Excellent. Now, *if* you'll excuse me," Cherry snarled, clutching the bag of onions so tightly that the fabric tore in several places. "I am going to finish my special Valentine's Day dinner for Otaru-sama now."

"Che, whatever, Cherry!" Bloodberry sneered, sticking her chest out brazenly as the smaller marionette slammed past her.

Otaru's brow furrowed. "You really should be nicer to her, Bloodberry," he scolded as he turned toward the kitchen.

"O--Otaru! Where are you go--"

"To help Cherry with dinner. God knows she's far enough behind in fixing it now, thanks to *you*!"

Bloodberry was shocked. "But, I --"

Otaru stopped in his tracks and rested his hand against the door frame. "Bloodberry," the tall marionette gasped as Otaru practically growled her name. "Please don't ruin Valentines Day for us."

Bloodberry could only stare on in shock as Otaru entered the kitchen, asked a suddenly dewy-eyed Cherry if he could be of any help, and then slammed the door behind him hard enough to shake the walls.

For a moment, Bloodberry couldn't decide whether she should cry or punch something. After taking a few shaking breaths, however, she decided to do neither.

"After all, Cherry," she murmured to herself. "Two can play at your little game."

"Ne, ne, Bloodberry?" Lime questioned. "What's wrong with Otaru? Why's he so mad when it's Valentine's Day, and everyone should be happy? Did we do something wrong, Bloodberry?"

It took every ounce of her dwindling self-control for Bloodberry to smile and playfully tousle Lime's hair. "No, of course not, Lime," she said, giving the younger marionette a wide grin. "Now, why don't you run on upstairs and make some more pretty hearts to hang on the walls."

"Uwe?" Lime blinked quizzically. "But, I thought Otaru said we had enough already."

"Oh, don't be a big silly!" Bloodberry smiled, fighting down the urge to reach out and shake Lime as she held up a box of brightly colored markers and a roll of white construction paper. Lime's eyes and mouth widened happily at the sight. "So, why don't be a good girl now and go make Otaru a really pretty valentine?"

"Yay!" Lime cried, grabbing the paper and markers. Bloodberry placed her hands akimbo and smiled as Lime ran out of the room yelling "Valentine! Valentine!" at the top of her lungs.

"Heh. That ought to keep her busy for at least the rest of the night," she snorted as she turned around to unpack her shopping bags.

Had Cherry known what Bloodberry had really been up to during her near-three hour absence, the small marionette would certainly not have returned to her kitchen so readily. Instead of merely dawdling as everyone seemed to believe, Bloodberry had been quite busy. Locating the right card had taken her nearly forty-five minutes, the right vanilla-scented candles thirty-three minutes, and as for the appropriate bubble-bath, music and mood lighting, well...the less said, the better.

But the bulk of Bloodberry's day had been spent obtaining the final item in her shopping bag, the one which she now slowly removed and cradled as if it were a holy relic. Somewhere, in an undisclosed location on the outskirts of Japoness, was a dark room in which one hundred bottles of sake were placed each year. But this was not just any sake. If it were, even Bloodberry would not have spent the last three months bribing, threatening, bullying and begging to get her name on the list with ninety-nine other lucky people to obtain a bottle of it for Valentines Day. No, this was a special kind of sake, smooth, full bodied, and blended with scrapings of a one-hundred-year-old mandrake root grown high in the mountains of Xi'an and left out to bask in the light of one hundred full moons before being blessed in a mystical midnight ceremony by an order of mystical monks. And according both to the merchants who sold this sake (as well as the label on the bottle), the blessed mandrake scrapings were guaranteed to make any two people who shared the bottle fall instantly and eternally in love with each other.

Bloodberry smiled happily and hugged the sake bottle as tightly as she dared. "So what if you cost me 2000 mon?" she purred as she caressed the bottle's neck lovingly. "You are going to make Otaru fall blissfully and eternally in love with me, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yeeeees, you are!"

"Who are you talking to, you crazy marionette?"

"Eh?" quickly, Bloodberry returned the sake bottle to the shopping bag and pushed the entire bundle under the table. "N--no one!" she exclaimed as she turned to face her interrogator. "I was simply thinking out loud, that's --" Bloodberry's eyes narrowed slightly as a collection of sweatdrops beaded on her forehead. "Oh, it's you," she said to the intruder.

At her observation, Hanagata Mitsurugi threw his head back and laughed boisterously, causing the small pair of white feathered wings strapped to his back to flutter slightly. Bloodberry simply blinked and continued to stare at her next door neighbor, most of whom was readily visible despite the loin cloth and heart-shaped red pasties which almost threatened to barely cover him.

Almost instinctively, Bloodberry's hands clenched into fists as steam came out of her nose. However, deciding at the last moment that sending Hanagata through a Hanagata-shaped hole in the wall would only serve to upset her master even more than he already was, she lowered her fists and snorted. "And just what the hell are you supposed to be, a color blind fairy? Or did you just forget to get dressed before leaving the house this morning?"

Hanagata folded his arms across his chest and pouted. "Humph! For your information, you ignorant marionette, I have chosen to celebrate Valentine's day by --"
"By getting arrested for indecent exposure." Bloodberry mockingly clapped her hands. "Brilliant plan, Hanako. Just walk outside, wave that scrawny ass of yours around, and I dare say your Valentine's Day will be a smashing success."

Hanagata's face purpled with rage. "SCRAWNY?! DAMMIT, BLOODBERRY, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE CUPID, AN OLD TERRA GOD OF LOVE!"

Bloodberry rolled her eyes. "Well, 'cupid', the only love you're gonna get around here is a good kick in the nuts if Cherry sees you like that."

"You're such a vulgar creature," Hanagata huffed, straightening his pasties.

"Vulgar?! Excuse me, but I'm not the one wearing an undersized diaper and --" Bloodberry waved her hand helplessly "-- and whatever the hell you have plastered to your chest. Now put something on"


"Have you been drinking more than your usual gallon of sake this morning?" Hanagata fumed. "Because you must have, if you think for one moment that I'm going to hide my gorgeous manly body from my beloved Otaru-kun's eyes -- and don't you *dare* menace me with that hideous table cloth, Bloodberry! If you think you can intimidate me into putting that thing over this super sexy costume, then you've truly lost your mind! I, the manly Hanagata Mitsurugi will not be moved!!"

"Oi, Hanagata, what's with the table cloth?" Otaru asked upon entering the room thirty seconds later followed by a tray-laden (and significantly placated) Cherry. "Are you dressed up as a caterpillar or something?"

Hanagata shot Bloodberry a nasty look and then turned his head to grin at Otaru. "Ah, Otaru-kun!" he said, eyes sparkling brightly as he tried fitfully to untangle his arms from Bloodberry's series of straight jacket like knots. "I came to your apartment wearing an oh-so-pretty Valentine's Day costume I made specifically for your viewing enjoyment and this obscene marionette --"

Bloodberry rolled her eyes and brought her fist down on Hanagata's head with a loud crack.

"Yeah, whatever, Hanagata," Otaru sighed, as the blonde's face slammed painfully into the table. "So, Bloodberry," he continued, plopping down next to Cherry as the marionette delicately placed her tray on the table, "where'd Lime run off to?"

"Eh, dunno," Bloodberry shrugged, slamming Hanagata in the head once again as he groggily attempted to sit up. "I think she went off to play somewhere."

"What the hell is wrong with you today, Bloodberry?"

Bloodberry blinked. "Otaru?"

"You knew it was almost time for dinner," Otaru shot back. "So why did you let her go play?"

Bloodberry shrugged. "I thought she wasn't hungry."

Otaru shook his head as Cherry demurely began to ladle rice onto the table's four plates. "That's not the point, Bloodberry. We're a family. And that means we eat as a family, too."

"But, Otaru --"

"Nyah, so let her play if she's not hungry. What's the big deal?" Hanagata asked, reaching one of his recently untangled hands out and picking up Lime's rice-filled bowl. "After all, if she doesn't come down, then there's quite enough food for me!"

This time, a whack from Cherry's ladle sent Hanagata's crashing back into the table. "I agree with you, Otaru-sama," she replied, looking at the young man with a gaze that nearly made steam come out of Bloodberry's eyes. "Would you like me to go fetch her?"

"No, I got it, Cherry." Otaru clambered noisily to his feet and shot Bloodberry a nasty look before pulling open the main room's door. "Oi, Lime!" he called, disappearing into the hallway beyond. "It's time for dinner!"

As soon as her master was well out of earshot, Bloodberry shot Cherry a withering glare. "What the hell was that, Cherry?"

"What was what, Bloodberry?" Cherry questioned as she lovingly arranged the contents of Otaru's plate

Bloodberry slammed her fist into the table so hard the plates and bowls rattled. "You heard me! 'Oh, of course we should have Lime at dinner!' Oh, spare me! You want to be alone with Otaru just as much as any of us!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I simply wanted us to eat dinner as a family, just as Otaru-sama requested. After all, today is a day which celebrates love and --"
"Oh, cut the crap, Cherry! You're planning something."

"Please sit down and eat before your dinner gets cold."

"Like hell I will! What are you trying to pull, you little minx?"

"I am only trying to make this holiday as pleasant as possible, Bloodberry. And considering that you nearly ruined my dinner, it appears that we do not share the same goal."

"Nearly ruined your dinner, eh?" Bloodberry growled, jabbing Cherry in the chest with a stern index finger. "Well, Cherry, you haven't seen anything yet."

The small marionette simply gave her a gentle, pleading look. "Bloodberry, please don't do this. I'm not angry about the onions anymore. I simply want to enjoy a meal as a family."

"Oh, really?" Cherry gulped and backed up a little as Bloodberry picked up her plate and menacingly stalked towards her. "Then by all means, Cherry, do enjoy some of your own cooking...."


When Otaru returned a few minutes later with Lime in tow, he was met with absolute chaos. Bloodberry stood in front of the overturned table screaming bloody murder as she shook a stew-covered and sobbing Cherry.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLANNING, YOU LITTLE BITCH?!?"

"Please, I -- I just -- I just wanted to make dinner and --"

"LIAR!!!"

"Bloodberry!" Otaru cried, striding forward and pulling the two marionettes apart. As Cherry sobbed and cowered behind his back, Otaru shot Bloodberry a nasty glare. "Just what the hell is going on here?!?"

"Otaru, that little witch is trying to --"

"I don't want any of your excuses, Bloodberry!" Otaru snarled, putting a comforting arm on Cherry's shoulder. "All she was trying to do was cook *us* a nice dinner! Nobody asked you to help, so why couldn't you have just left her alone?!"

"O--Otaru..." Bloodberry stammered, blushing darkly at her master's rage.

"No. I think I've seen *and* heard enough. Lime, go help Cherry clean up. I'm taking you both out to dinner tonight."

"But, Otaru-sama," Cherry sniffled. "I worked so hard to make that meal, and I --"

"Shh, I know, Cherry," Otaru soothed as he wiped some sauce from her cheek. "But you and Lime deserve a night off, especially since somebody," Bloodberry blushed again. "Is being a pain in the ass. Now, go get ready. Please?"

"H--hai," Cherry sniffled, taking Lime's arm and following her from the room. As soon as the two marionettes were out of hearing range, Otaru rounded on Bloodberry.

"What the hell is wrong with you today?"

"Otaru, listen! She's been purposefully trying to piss me off from the moment I walked in that door --"

"Yes, three hours late with something she needed. Something you promised to get her. I know, Bloodberry. She told me all about it. Now, you're going to clean up this mess and think about what you've done. And maybe when we get home, you'll be in a better mood and ready to apologize!"

"But, Otaru! She's the one who --"

Otaru raised his hand. "Frankly, Bloodberry, I don't want to hear anymore about it."

"But, Otaru-kun," Hanagata chimed in. "Bloodberry's right! Cherry was --"

Otaru looked at Hanagata and blinked. "Oi, Hanagata, what's with the diaper?"

"It's not a diaper, Otaru-kun! I'm supposed to be Cupid. And Cherry was provoking --"

"I've heard enough from both of you. And as far as I'm concerned, Hanagata, you can stay home and keep her company."

At this pronouncement, Hanagata's blue eyes widened and his lower lip began to tremble. "But, Otaru-kun! What did I --"

"I said you can stay home, Hanagata! Because I'm sick and tired of you following me around everywhere."

Little beads of tears budded in the corner of Hanagata's eyes. "You're so mean!" he whimpered.

"Whatever, Hanagata. And for God sake, put some clothes on before you blind someone," Otaru huffed, storming past him.

"Otaru-kun!"

"Otaru-sama," The door slid open to reveal a thoroughly cleaned Cherry and a happily smiling Lime.

"Ah, Lime, Cherry. Are you guys ready?"

"Hai, Otaru-sama!"

"Yay, Otaru's taking us out to eat!"

Otaru smiled and offered an arm to both marionettes. "If I may kindly escort both of you,"

"Ne, ne, isn't Bloodberry coming?" Lime asked, casting a forlorn glance at the tall marionette as Cherry happily wrapped her arm around Otaru's.

"No, Lime," her master replied. "Bloodberry's staying home because she was bad."

"But, it won't be any fun without Bloodberry," Lime protested as Otaru took her hand.

"Then Bloodberry should have thought of that before she broke the table and the dishes. And make sure you have them cleaned up by the time we get home, Bloodberry."

"Hai, Otaru," the red-haired marionette bowed her head as the party of three exited the apartment. Before they could close the door, however, Hanagata recovered himself. Racing for Otaru with his arms open, he cried;

"Otaru-kun! Take me too! I want to be your special Valentine!"

"Cherry. Lime."

Hanagata howled as the two marionettes slammed their fists into his stomach simultaneously. The force of their blows sent the young man crashing into the apartment's back wall. As bits of plaster and paper rained down around him, Otaru addressed his final words to Bloodberry before closing the door.

"And make sure Hanagata cleans that up, too, before he leaves."

And then they were gone.

Shoulders sagged, Bloodberry stood in the room's center for a moment, listening to Hanagata's breathing. And then she slammed her fist into a nearby wall, sending more plaster down onto the helpless half-dressed boy.

"Che, this sucks! Fine then! Go on and have fun! See if I care! I'll have my own fun!" Bloodberry stormed out of the main room and slammed the door so hard that the walls shook and a large lump of plaster tumbled from the ceiling and cracked in half over Hanagata's head just as he was sitting up. Hanagata groaned, sneezed a few times and then shakily got to his feet. Throwing the front door open, he shook his fist at the evening air.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH SLANDEROUS THINGS ABOUT YOUR SOULMATE, OTARU-KUN?!? SOULMATE?! SOULMATE!! COME BACK HERE SO I CAN YELL AT YOU!!"

A frying pan sailed through the air and hit Hanagata squarely on the forehead, thereby sending him once again to the floor.

"....mou.... love hurts....?"

"Oi, Hanako, what are you still doing here?"

"Eh?" Hanagata's eyes opened on an upside down Bloodberry carrying a large red bottle under each arm. Despite the pain in his head (and the equally strong pain in his heart), Hanagata sat up quickly and cowered away from the marionette.

"Please don't hit me anymore," he whimpered.

Bloodberry stared at him disgustedly and rolled her eyes as she righted the table. "Hanako, don't take this wrong or anything but, considering what Otaru just said to me, hitting you is about the last thing on my mind. Although," she placed the bottles on top of it and smiled darkly. "Now that you mention it, maybe taking some of my anger out on you wouldn't be such a bad --"

It was then that she realized Hanagata was crying.

"Awww, what's the matter now?!"

Hanagata hiccuped miserably and tried to wipe his nose on his sleeve. Remembering at the last moment that he didn't have one, however, he bent the corner of his left wing down and used that. "Nothing... nothing at all... you wouldn't understand what it feels like to be used as a human punching for a trio of homicidally unstable marionettes every day of your miserable existence. Oh why oh why was I ever cloned?"

"Unstable?" Bloodberry's eyebrow twitched slightly for a moment and then she sighed. "Look, just stop with the melodramatics, Hanako. So he doesn't like you. Get over it. Who does?"

This revelation only made Hanagata cry harder and louder. Bloodberry sighed. "Look, just go home, make some tea and go to bed. You'll feel better when you have a good night's rest."

"Yes, of course," Hanagata murmured, shakily rising to his feet. "After all, tea is a wonderful substitute for a love life. Almost as good as sake."

Bloodberry lowered her sake cup and glared at Hanagata. "And just what are you implying, Hanako?"

Hanagata leaned a hand against the door frame and looked down. "Nothing, Bloodberry. I'm sorry my sympathy offended you."

"Funny, the only one I hear you sympathizing with is yourself."

Hanagata snarled. "You just can't understand, can you, you ridiculous marionette? I was trying to say that I'm sorry he left you home alone tonight, too. But I suppose hearing that from someone as annoying as I am is meaningless. So goodnight."

"Fine, enjoy wallowing in self-pity."

"Enjoy drowning yourself in alcohol."

Neither marionette nor man moved. At last, Bloodberry sighed. "Listen, Hanako --"

"What?!"

"Look, I'm not asking you this because I like you, but because I know if you leave now, I'll be the one stuck cleaning up that wall. Understood?" Hanagata stared at her, his eyes daring her to ask. Finally, Bloodberry slammed her fist on the table. "Dammit! Stop giving me goo-goo eyes and get over here and sit down before I really give you something to cry about!"

Hanagata gave her a wary look. Yet another glare from Bloodberry, however, coupled with a display of her clenched fists convinced him to sit down beside her. "Not so close, Hanako," Bloodberry shuddered as poured him a cup of sake. "Those stupid wings of yours are really giving me the creeps." As Hanagata inched away from her, Bloodberry downed her cup of sake and slapped it down on the table. "God only knows why I asked you to stay," she commented, splashing more of the drink into her cup. "You've got to be the most boring idiot on the face of the planet."

"And you are certainly its rudest, most disobedient loud-mouthed marionette."

"Oi, Hanako. Do you or do you not want to take a very long flight through the roof tonight?"

Hanagata scooted to the other side of the table so quickly his wings flapped.

"Heh. That's more like it," Bloodberry said, sliding a cup of sake after him. "Sake?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ahhh!" Otaru sighed, patting his stomach as he, Cherry and Lime exited the Happie Chopstick. "Now that's what I call some good eating! But of course, your cooking is way better, Cherry."

The marionette blushed and raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh...Otaru-sama..." she cooed demurely.

"Soooo," Otaru said, looking around. "What shall we do next? We could always take a walk by the river, or maybe see a movie, or --"

"WAI!! Fireworks! Fireworks!!"

"Or... go see some fireworks, maybe," Otaru laughed as Lime jumped up and down while pointing at a large poster tacked to a nearby building.

"Ne, ne, Otaru! I wanna see the fireworks so I can yell 'oohhh! ahhh!' at all the pretty pictures!"

Otaru smiled and patted Lime on the head. "Well, it looks like you've decided what you'd like to do. And I wouldn't mind seeing some fireworks myself. Any objections, Cherry?"

Cherry simply smiled placidly. "Why no, Otaru-sama. Seeing the fireworks sounds like a marvelous --"

"YAY!!!" Lime took off down the street screaming "fireworks! fireworks!" at the top of her lungs. Otaru merely smiled after her and then offered Cherry his hand. "Coming, Cherry?"

"H--hai, Otaru-sama..." the small marionette stammered as she took it.

The pair held hands for a long moment, gazing steadfastly into each others' eyes. Otaru was the first to speak.

"Cherry..."

Cherry swallowed a few times before managing to squeak out a nearly imperceptible. "Hai?"

"I -- I've been doing some thinking lately..."

"Otaru-sama....?"

"And I've come to a decision..." Cherry gasped as Otaru wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "I love you, Cherry. And I'm going to take the opportunity on this most special of nights to prove it to you by making you mine."

"Oh, Otaru-sama..." Cherry whimpered as her young master pulled her even closer. "I -- I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything, dearest," Otaru whispered, leaning forward. "Don't say anything at all."

"Ohhh! Otaru-sama!!" Cherry cried, wrapping her arms around herself and blushing as she gyrated her hips back and forth almost obscenely. "Ohh, not here, Otaru-sama! Not on the street, in front of all these people!!"

But Otaru was already yards down the street, chasing after Lime. "Oi, Cherry!" he called, turning around to wave at her. "Are you coming or not?"

"Nani? Oh... hai, Otaru-sama!" Cherry called, running after him.

~Soon, Cherry,~ she thought. ~Just a few more hours and Otaru-sama will be all yours.~

~*~*~*~*~

Bloodberry threw her head back and slammed her sake cup against the table as she let a huge belch fly. "Ahhhh!! Now THAT... *hic* is some good SHIT! Oi, *hic* Kanaho. Sschtop *hic* movin' 'roun'.... dizzy..."

Hanagata, however, was far too busy dancing in circles a few feet away from the table. "Myah....*hic* Bloodybunny.... there's this... bunny! on my! back! 'Keeps... flapping aroun'...bunny!"

"Eh... scho whag? Jusht *hic* take the bunny off and walk it then," Bloodberry slurred as she reached for the sake bottle. A few clumsy seconds later, she had managed to refill her cup while only spilling a little of the drink onto the table top. "Oi, Nanakoh, I gotta leak!" she bellowed, pointing at the spilled liquid.

"Stoopid bunny," Hanagata wagged an accusing (and unsteady) finger at his feathered wings which now rested in an untidy heap on the floor. "I tell you once, I *hic* tell bunny! you a thousand times! Don't get your bunny! paws all over my back! I jusht *hic!* washed it...stoopid..."

"Oi... Kana..ho! Get over here! I gotta leak on the table!"

"Yippie!" Hanagata stumbled across the room and dropped to his knees beside Bloodberry. "Huh?" he asked her after searching the table for a few moments. "I dun see a bunny anywhere..."

"Oi! 'nuf with the bunny!" Bloodberry shouted, gesturing violently at the puddle of spilled sake. "...I...tol...ya I gotta leak on the table! Now... *hic* be a good *hic hic* little ... ah, what the hell are ya, anyway?" Hanagata considered the question with the seriousness of a Talmudic scholar before shrugging helplessly at the marionette.

"Notta bunny I hope..." he and Bloodberry dissolved into a fit of helpless laughter.

"But really...." Bloodberry paused. "Eh, Anakho, whag the hell wash I *hic* schaying?"

"Bunny!"

Bloodberry continued laughing even when Hanagata's head landed on her ample breasts.

"Hee heee," Hanagata giggled. "Your chest...bounces... like a bunny... BUNNY!!"

"Aww, schtop lookin' at that an...c'mere..." Hanagata sat up and tried to focus his now red eyes on Bloodberry.

"...two Bunnyberries..." he hiccuped as his eyes crossed.

"Schotp bein' *hic* philalanthschopical and *hic* c'mere!" Bloodberry shouted, throwing an arm around Hanagata's shoulder. The young man's only protest was a loud belch before he returned the gesture.

"Oi, Nanakoh.." Bloodberry flashed him a lop-sided grin. "We ... really are...schooo... drungk...."

Hanagata grinned stupidly. "Who's Kohana?" he asked after a moment.

"Eh, who knowsh?" Bloodberry shrugged as she attempted to pour some more sake into her already overflowing cup. "Awww, dammit!" she upended the bottle and peered into it quizzically as Hanagata rested his head on her shoulder. "Hey, Akanho... da bottle'z empty an'... who're you 'gain? Aw, hell...duzzn't madder... caush ...." Bloodberry giggled.

"Eh? What's so bunny?"

"I got this schtuff," Bloodberry hiccuped. "In thish red bottle..."

"Bunny?"

"Yeah, dat's right.... over in...." Bloodberry gestured to the parcel of Valentine's gifts she'd partially hidden behind the room's only houseplant. "...behinna pot! I got dish...*hic* bottle a... it makesh you... feel REAL good whennya...drink...."

"Bunny, I'm drungk... I dunno what you're saying... there's sake behind that thing over there?" Bloodberry nodded. "An...what'll you give...the ohhhhh!!! so!!! manly!!! Bunnygata Mitsubunny if he *hic* gets it?"

"You getta drink first...cutey..."

Hanagata grinned and stumbled across the floor towards the plant as Bloodberry drained her cup. For a fleeting moment something troubled her. It seemed that earlier... she'd had a reason... a really good reason... a good reason that no one, including her, should touch that sake until later that night... and then only in the presence of a certain person who didn't really resemble the man who'd just knocked the plant over on himself.

"Oww! Bad Bunny!"

"Eyh," Bloodberry shrugged it off. After all, sake was sake, and if she remembered correctly, the sake in the bottle funny man in the diaper was carrying was damn good sake, indeed.

"Gimme." After a few unsuccessful attempts, Hanagata managed to hand Bloodberry the bottle before collapsing onto his back. As Bloodberry uncorked the bottle and shakily poured some of its contents into their sake cups, Hanagata giggled and pointed upwards.

"There's a bunny in the *hic hic* ceiling!"

"Aww, leave da bun...ny aglone..." Bloodberry hiccuped, sliding the sake cup over to Hanagata. "Siddap 'n' c'mere. C'mere!" Slowly, Hanagata sat up and crawled forward, taking his place beside Bloodberry, who raised her sake glass. "A...toast!"

"...But...that's a piecea bread...*hic* Blood...bunny!"

"Aww, so what?" Bloodberry held her glass aloft. "To...um..."

"Bunny?" Hanagata helped, raising his glass as well.

"...Yeah, whagevah."

Hanagata and Bloodberry exchanged lopsided smiles and clinked their cups together. Slowly, they raised them to their lips...

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Fireworks!! Fireworks!!"

"Lime, slow down!"

But the cheerful marionette was already yards ahead of them and jogging in place as she stared expectantly into the evening sky. "Ne, Otaru! Where's the fireworks? I wanna go, 'Ohhh! Ahhhh!'"

Otaru laughed and leaned back to look into the darkening sky. "They'll probably start as soon as it's really dark, Lime. Huh?" Otaru turned his head at the sound of a large squelch.

Lime was now seated awkwardly on the ground, her eyes wide with surprise. Slowly she arched upwards and ran a hand across her soaked backside. "Otaru..." her green eyes teared slightly. "I just sat down and the ground was all wet."

"Lime..." Otaru sighed and angrily shoved his fists into his pockets. "Those idiots! Why did they water the grass so late if they knew people were gonna be sitting here for the fireworks?! Come on, guys. We're gonna have to move."

"But -- but this is the perfect place, Otaru!" Lime cried.

"Lime is correct, Otaru-sama. The probability of us locating another hilltop with such an excellent vantage before the display begins is very small. If you wish, I can go home and get some blankets for us to sit on."

"Aww, Cherry, I don't want you to go to all that trouble."

Cherry smiled benignly. "Oh, it is no trouble at all, Otaru-sama. I will be back shortly."

"Hey, Cherry?"

"Hai?" Cherry blushed slightly as Otaru put his hand on her shoulder. "Otaru-sama...?"

"Cherry, I just wanted to... well, to thank you for putting up with everything tonight. I mean, dealing with Bloodberry and dinner and everything...well, that couldn't have been easy."

Cherry's otome kairo pounded happily as she blushed even darker. "Oh, it was no trouble at all, Otaru-sama!" she beamed.

"Well, thanks anyway..."

"Hai, Otaru-sama!!" and with that, Cherry raced away, nearly knocking over a group of men in her joy.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You're just in time, Cherry," Otaru said as the lavender-haired marionette returned. "What kept you so long, anyway?"

"Gomen nasai," Cherry paused in arranging the blankets to bow politely to her master. "I did not want to ruin our good blankets, so it took some time to locate these rags."

"Oh, okay," Otaru plopped down in the center of the blanket and motioned for Lime and Cherry to follow him. "Look, you made it just in time, Cherry.," he said, looking upwards as a pale pink light washed across his face. "Isn't that lovely?"

As Lime squealed with delight and clapped her hands, Cherry blushed and rested her head against her master's shoulder. She smiled and closed her eyes as she met no resistance, but rather felt his arm drape itself across her shoulders.

"Hai, it is, Otaru-sama," she murmured in the fireworks fading light. "It is."

~*~*~*~*~*~

It felt so good...

"Mhh, Otaru," Bloodberry yawned, losing a little of the futon's blanket as she rolled over onto her side. A slow smile spread across her face as the warm body next to hers only nestled closer and a head of soft hair nuzzled against her shoulder. As a pair of drowsy hands roved their way across her back and around to her chest, her smile grew that much larger.

"Mhhh... that's it...that's it. Oh! You've never...this forward, Otaru!"

~*~*~*~*~

"Ohhh, Otaru-kun! Ehehehe....tickles!" But nonetheless, Hanagata decided he immensely enjoyed the hand currently running through his morning-tousled hair.

"Ohhhhh! And what's this?" his voice went up an octave as the hand began a slow progress down his back. "Myah....Otaru-kun! You naughty boy! Don't touch that unless...." Hanagata giggled like a schoolgirl and nestled further into his lover's chest as a pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around him. "So good..."

But for the life of him, Hanagata's alcohol-sore mind couldn't fathom why Otaru's chest felt strangely lumpy today....

~*~*~*~*~*~

Otaru yawned conspicuously as Cherry unlocked and opened the door to their home. "Wow...what a night, huh ladies?"

Lime nodded sleepily. "Ne, Otaru, I really had fun. Especially at the fireworks! And the late-night carnival! And that party at the river! And --"

Otaru smiled indulgently and patted the marionette's soft blue hair. "I know, Lime. Thanks. But can you try and keep it down, please? It's real early and we're all really tired."

As Lime blushed and clamped a hand over her mouth, Otaru ran a hand through his messy hair. "But it's really too bad Bloodberry had to miss it. I dunno, Lime. Do you think I was too hard on her? Maybe I should just go and apolo--"

It was then Otaru noticed the room's disarray. Sighing, he walked over to the table and glared at the spilled remains of last night's dinner. Bending down, he picked up a broken plate and clenched his free hand into a fist. "Cherry..."

"Hai, Otaru-sama?"

"When you came home last night, what was Bloodberry doing?"

Cherry turned her eyes down to the floor and nervously clasped her hands before her. "Gomen nasai, Otaru-sama... I didn't want to ruin the evening by telling you..."

"Telling me?"

"When I got home...Bloodberry was just sitting here. I got the blankets and told her that she should clean up the room as you wished her too. And then..."Cherry took a few deep breaths and struggled to fight back her tears.

"Yes, go on, Cherry," Otaru said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here. It's okay. Nothing's gonna happen to you..."

At Otaru's touch, Cherry seemed to recover slightly. Taking another deep breath, she continued. "And when I asked her to do that, Bloodberry got...very angry with me. Had I not left the apartment immediately, I fear she may have..." she looked away, letting her silence finish her thoughts.

Otaru scowled and slowly lowered the plate back to the table. "Cherry, where do you think Bloodberry is now?"

"Most likely sleeping, why do you ask Otaru-sama...no! Please!" Cherry caught Otaru's arm as the young man stormed across the room to the bedroom door. "Please don't do this on my account, Otaru-sama! I have forgiven Bloodberry. Maybe she will be more cheerful if we simply let her rest."

Otaru shook his head and grasped the door firmly. "No, Cherry. I asked Bloodberry nicely to clean up the room and to stop bothering you. And she didn't. So now, she is going to get her ass out here and explain to me why --"

"Ne, ne, Otaru! What's Bloodberry and Hannie-chan doing? Are they playing a game?"

"Hannie-chan?" Otaru looked into the room and gasped.

"Otaru-sama, whatever could the matter b--" Cherry's own voice died as her eyes widened in shock.

Bloodberry and Hanagata lay nestled together on the room's largest futon, their faces both lit by contented smiles. Currently, Bloodberry's hand rested awkwardly in Hanagata's messy hair. Most of the blonde's face, however, could not be seen as it was currently nestled deeply in Bloodberry's large (and very bare) chest.

"Ahhh...." Both Cherry and Otaru gurgled helplessly as they took in this site. Lime, however, maintained enough presence of mind to both giggle happily at the sight and to skip forward.

"Ne, ne! I wanna play the cuddle game, too!"

"L--lime!" Otaru snapped out of his reverie and raced forward to grab the marionette's hand. "Don't do that --!"

"Wheee!!"

Otaru gasped as Lime's enthusiasm sent both of them careening into the futon. As they landed heavily, the two sleeping individuals awakened abruptly.

"Otaru-kun?!"

"Hanagata?"

"Bloodberry- chan!"

"L--lime?" Bloodberry's eyes darted over and met those of the startled young man who had fallen into Hanagata's lap. "Otaru!" she seethed.

"B--bloodberry!"

"Hana-ko!"

"B--bloodbe rry!" Hanagata blinked in puzzlement and noticed Lime. "Lime?"

"Hannie-chan?"

"Hanagata!" Otaru cried, pulling away from the older man as he tried to hug him.

"Otaru-kun!"

"Hana-ko!" Bloodberry shouted, sitting up so quickly the sheet fell down, revealing her bare chest.

"Bloodberry!" cried, shielding his eyes by burying his face against the closest thing he could find --

"Otaru-kun!!" Hanagata's shoulder.

"Hannie-chan!" Lime bellowed, kneeing Otaru in the side as she reached scrambled over to pummel the young man for touching her master.

"Lime!" both Otaru and Hanagata howled in pain.

"Otaru!" Bloodberry raised a hand to her aching head and playfully wagged her breasts at the young man.

"BLOODBERRY!" Otaru cried, hiding his face in the only place he could find.

"O--otaru-kuuuuuunnnnn!" Hanagata's lap.

"Hanagata!!!" Otaru bellowed as the young man attempted to hug him.

"Hannie-chan!!"

"Lime!" Hanagata whimpered as the marionette smashed him in the face.

Bloodberry blinked her bleary eyes as her mind struggled to make sense of the situation. "Otaru?" she questioned, gesturing at the bed.

"Bloodberry!" the young man growled as the struggling Lime inadvertently kneed him in the chest again. "LIME!!"

"Otaru?" Lime looked up from pummeling the young and practically naked Hanagata to stare at her master.

"Otaru-kun?" Hanagata asked, indicating the futon with a gesture.

"Hanagata!!!" Otaru winced, holding his side.

"Otaru!" Lime scrambled out of the bed and pulled her master along. "Otaru?" she asked, touching his side gently.

Otaru winced. "Lime!"

Bloodberry stared over at Hanagata and blinked, studying him. Hanagata did the same.

"Bloodberry?"

"Hana-ko?"

Slowly the realization dawned upon them.

"B--Bloodberry?" Hanagata whimpered, pulling the blanket up over his bare chest.

"Hana-ko?!" blushing, the red-haired marionette responded in kind.

"Otaru-kun..." Hanagata looked tearfully at the object of his affections and then glared at the marionette opposite him. "Bloodberry!"

"Otaru!" Bloodberry cried, lowering her face to the pillow for a moment.

"BLOODBERRY!!!!" Hanagata screamed. Crying out at the pain that sparked through his head upon doing this, however, Hanagata cradled his head in his hands and then glared back at the marionette. "Bloodberry!" he snarled, accusingly.

"Hana-ko!" she growled, looking up from her pillow, an action which caused the blanket to fall away from her breasts again.

Hanagata's eyes widened at the sight. "B--b--b--bloodb--berry!" he stammered, unable to take his eyes off of them.

"You pervert!" Bloodberry shouted, smashing Hanagata in the face.

"Dyaaaahhh!!" Hanagata howled as he flew across the bedroom and smashed through the wall into his own apartment.

"Otaru!" Bloodberry whimpered, burying her face back into the pillow.

And through all this commotion, Cherry smiled to herself.

~Revenge is sweet, isn't it, Bloodberry?~ she thought.

(End Part One)