Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Best Friends ❯ Chapter 1

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

DISCLAIMER: The characters aren't mine. They belong to others
and I make no claim on them. I'm trying to use the Japanese
honorifics, but am probably making some errors. If so, please
let me know so I can correct them. They add a lot of depth to
interpersonal characterizations, but can be difficult for me as
non-Japanese to understand completely. I hope that they are not
too jarring.
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Best Friends by Desslok
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Chapter One: Monday morning

"Ten seconds to go, she dribbles over half-court, head fake, 6
seconds, crossover, drives the lane, 3, pulls up for the
fadeaway, 2, 1...." [clank]

Makoto cursed silently under her breath and jogged over to
retrieve the basketball. Suddenly, she became aware that she had
an audience.

"Nice shot, Kino, you just lost the World Championship for
Japan."

Leaning against the bleachers on the other side of the gymnasium,
clapping slowly and mockingly, was someone she had not seen in a
long time. Though she was surprised and excited to see him,
Makoto couldn't let such impudence go unpunished. "Gee,
'Shinoko', I thought after the whipping I put on you last time,
you'd never dare set foot on a basketball court again. Did you
pick up some new moves in Kyoto that you'd like to see
dissected?" She tossed the basketball to Shinozaki Kenjo with
enough force to make him scramble to catch it.

Shinozaki laughed and dribbled over toward his oldest, dearest
friend. "Not right now, I'm still recovering, thank you. It's
good to see you, Mako-chan. It's been way too long." Closing
the distance between them, he shot randomly toward the basket and
opened his arms to her. He didn't notice that it actually went
in with a 'swish', but Makoto certainly did.

"Good shot, Kenjo-chan!" she said with a smile, embracing him.
After a solid squeeze, she stepped back, holding his hands in her
own. "I didn't think you'd be back till the winter holidays!
When did you get into town?"

Kenjo smiled, released one of her hands, and led her over toward
the bleachers to sit. "We have mid-term break, so I figured I'd
hop the train and come home for the week. Got in yesterday
morning. I tried to track you down at the ice cream parlor, but
your friend Mizuno told me you were probably here, working out."

"Yeah, after my routine, I like to shoot around a little. None
of my friends, well other than you, really likes basketball much.
Haruka likes auto racing and Minako is obsessed with volleyball,
but other than that they're not too interested in any sports,"
Makoto lamented.

"I thought you were toning your interest in sports down after
whathisname dumped you with that bullshit about not being
'feminine' enough," Kenjo asked. Though his tone was light, he
turned to watch her reaction closely. Last time they'd had the
chance for a real heart-to-heart, he'd been able to tell that she
was still upset over what that guy had said to her, even though
it was now a number of years past. As he'd hoped, though, time
apparently had healed that wound. She simply laughed and shook
her head.

"I never lost interest, but its not much fun when you try to
explain the intricacies of a zone defense to girls who have no
interest whatsoever. Nah, my friends have no clue, so I don't
bother them with it." Makoto sighed and a small smile tweaked
her lips. "Ami, though, she'll listen politely. I think she even
looked up some stuff once, just so I'd have someone to enjoy the
last World Cup with. You still owe me 500 yen, by the way," she
added, nudging Kenjo in the ribs.

"Ami? That's Mizuno-san, right? She's the one who told me I
could probably find you here. Seems like a sweet girl," Kenjo
noted. "Does she have a boyfriend?"

Kenjo was quite surprised to see Makoto's eyes flare briefly. No
one else might have noticed, but there weren't many people who
knew Kino Makoto the way he did. For the first time in a very
long time, he began to wonder if perhaps she was jealous. After
some fits and starts when they had both hit puberty years ago,
they had both finally realized that they just worked better as
friends and since then, it had never been an issue. When "the
jerk", as she called him (what Kenjo called him can't be
printed), dumped her, Kenjo was there to offer an umbrella and a
shoulder to cry on. When the first great love of his life had
told him that she loved him, but was not in love with him and
that they should just be friends, Makoto had been there to
listen, to sympathize, to help him get past it. For years, it
had never even occurred to him that either of them could think of
the other as anything other than what they were, best friends,
but... there had been something there.

"Only you could get jet lag from riding a train, Shinozaki!,"
Makoto teased, waving her hand in front of his eyes. "I hope you
weren't sitting there fantasizing about my Ami. Don't waste your
time," she added, "she's got 'Urawa-san'." Again, no one else
might have noticed, but Kenjo heard it. She didn't like this
Urawa fellow at all.

"Besides," she continued, "you're only here for a week. I hope
you aren't so hard up at school that you've got to come back to
Tokyo lookin' for love!" Makoto smiled lightly, but laid a hand
over his to let her friend know that, if it was something like
that, he could certainly talk to her about it. For a moment,
they just sat together. Makoto couldn't quite tell what Kenjo
was thinking, but still she marveled at how, no matter how long
they were apart, the minute they got together it was as if no
time at all had passed.

"I'm not looking for love, Kino," Kenjo laughed, patting her
hand. "I am between romances at the moment, as they say, but
have some prospects back at school. How about you? Still got a
heart aflutter for that guy that works down at the arcade?"

Makoto giggled nervously, which made Kenjo even more suspicious
(Makoto, giggling?) and shook her head. "Nah, he's got a
girlfriend. Besides, I really don't have time for that kind of
thing, what with school and, you know, the other stuff." Even
though they were clearly alone, she still darted her eyes around
the gym. She could still recall the day when she had told him
about her 'secret identity' as Sailor Jupiter and what it meant.
There hadn't been much chance for her to hide it, after he had
been injured in an attack. She had sworn him to secrecy, even
though they both trusted each other with their lives, and, even
then, it had still been hard for her to tell him. Afterwards,
though, Makoto found it was nice to able to share that part of
her life with him as well. Kenjo had an outsider's perspective
on things that often gave her great insights into the larger
issues associated with her dual roles. Though she loved and
cherished all of the senshi, sometimes there were still things
she needed to work through that they couldn't understand.

Kenjo nodded. "Sounds kind of lonely."

"Oh, but its not like that really!" Makoto declared, sitting up
straight with an excited glint in her eye. "The other sen.. the
others are all so wonderful. Aside from you, they're the best
friends I've ever had. We spend all sorts of time together. Ami
and I get together just about every night to study and have
dinner, especially when her mom has to work late. Her mom is a
doctor, so Ami's all alone at home and you know I am, so we
decided we might as well be alone together. She'll bring her
books over, I'll make us dinner. Sometimes, the other girls will
come by as well, when they're not too busy. And, of course, we
have our meetings in the afternoons when we can. Ami, she's
studying to be a doctor too, so she's got a lot of classes, but
she tries to avoid scheduling afternoon classes when she can. My
classes are usually in the mornings or the evenings, and the
others make time as well. Ami and I were joking just the other
day that we didn't see how Minako had as much time to date as she
does, and of course Usagi only has free time since her boyfriend
went abroad to study."

Kenjo just sat back and listened as Makoto told him about her
life. One of the things he really loved about her was her
enthusiasm, especially for the things that mattered most in her
life: sports, exercise, cooking, her friends. Though they'd
gone to different schools, he knew that she had a reputation as
someone to be avoided. Dealing with all of that, not to mention
her parents' deaths, had created walls around her. Thus, Kenjo
particularly enjoyed those times when his presence allowed her to
let some of that passion and energy out. As she spoke, however,
he began to sense something. She might not be willing to admit
it, but she did sound lonely. Every happy expression accompanied
a story about time spent with her friends. As he considered
that, an odd thought came to mind. 'Damn, if this were a
drinking game and I was taking a shot every time she said the
word 'Ami', I'd be on my way to detox.' Slowly, notions began to
form in his head.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Makoto asked suspiciously.
"I know I've been rambling on a bit, but you know me well enough
to know how I am."

Kenjo startled, realizing that she'd stopped speaking about four
stations back on his train of thought. "Sorry! Just had a funny
idea, that's all."

"Well, you gonna share? You weren't gonna ask me to set you up
with Usagi again, were you? I told you she's destined for
another and besides, she'd drive you nuts after a week. I swear,
I don't know what it is with you and blondes. I've always
preferred dark hair myself, and the more studious type. Maybe I
_should_ set you up with Minako, it might serve you both right!"

Kenjo raised an eyebrow with amusement at her descriptions. "No,
no, nothing like that. Let me ponder it a bit more. Maybe I'll
share later, say over dinner tonight?"

Makoto frowned suddenly, "Ami and I were going to have dinner
with the rest of the senshi... why are you laughing?"

Kenjo coughed to regain some control. 'Ami and I' not 'All of us
together'. He wondered if she even suspected, and whether or not
the rest of their friends knew. Then, he remembered something,
something about 'Urawa'. 'Oh, my Mako-chan, I hope you haven't
done it again. Why can't you fall in love with someone
unattached for once,' he thought wistfully.

"No reason. Well, what works for you, then?" he asked.

Makoto thought a moment. "I want to be able to talk without feeling rushed, but I've got classes all week."

"How about we meet here on Saturday morning then? We can
exercise and then maybe shoot some hoops. I think my confidence
is returning."

"You're on, hot shot," Makoto agreed. "Now, I really need to hit
the showers and no, I can't get you a visitor's pass to the
girls' locker room, so you'd better hit the road.. See ya
Saturday!"

As she walked off, Kenjo sat on the bench and thought about how
he might be able to help his friend. First things first. He
needed to do some research. Jumping up quickly, he yelled, "Hey
Kino, hold up a second!"

"What's the matter, did you forget the way home?" she responded
with a smirk.

"No, I wanted to ask you a favor, seriously," Kenjo said, dashing
over to her. "Could you set me up on a date with your friend
Minako?"

"Are you really serious?" Makoto asked, with a startled look. "I
thought you had 'prospects' and besides, you're heading back to
Kyoto soon. You mean you can't go a week without a date?"
Though her tone was teasing, Kenjo could see shades of concern
growing in her eyes.

"Could you just ask her, as a favor? I promise, I'm fine and
it's nothing weird. I'd just like to meet this girl you keep
mentioning to me," Kenjo said in a soothing voice.

"Ok," Makoto agreed, somewhat reluctantly. "I'm not sure what
you're up to, but I'll do it as a favor, to both of you."
Suddenly, her smile returned. "I really do think the two of you
would get along. After all you have so much in common!"

Kenjo could guess where this was going, but he asked anyway.
"And that would be?"

"You both love me!" Makoto answered with an even bigger smile.
"I'll ask her tonight and give you a call later. See ya!"

Kenjo smiled, at her joke but also at Makoto in general. She was
such a sweet girl and he really wanted to see her happy. He
suspected he finally had a lead on a way he could help in that
department, but before he did anything or said anything to her
about it, he needed some confirmation. Hopefully, this would be
a step in that direction. 'And hey,' he thought, 'if nothing
else, I get to have dinner with a hot blonde!' With that happy
thought, he headed out.

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