Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny's Return ❯ Chapter 4: Nicole and Naoko come in! Mihoshi's new boyfriend? ( Chapter 4 )

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

~Chapter 4: Nicole and Naoko come in! Mihoshi's new boyfriend? ~

Mihoshi grinned as she shoved yet another cookie into her mouth. She
swallowed and said "Mina-San, these cookies are the greatest!"
Mina-San, or Kasumi's mother, smiled. "Why thank you Mihoshi...and
don't forget, you are welcome over here any time," Mina-San told
Mihoshi. Kasumi scowled. "Mihosheeeee, you were supposed to be on a
diet!" she exclaimed. "Damned diet...it doesn't matter, anyways....
Diets are for the athletically challenged!" Mihoshi replied, munching
on another cookie. She flexed her "muscles" and looked at Kasumi.
Kasumi smiled and said, "Well, exactly! Then diets are for you! You
said that they were for the athletically challenged, didn't you?"
"Break it up!" Mina-san interrupted. The two looked up at the adult.
"Sorry," they said in unison. Mina-San grinned. "That's better," she
said. "Now go get ready for bed," Mina-San added, pointing up the
stairs. Mihoshi's blue eyes filled with tears. "NOOOO!!!" she screamed
jokingly. "Not the bed!!! NOOO!!!" Mina-San pointed up the stairs
sternly. Kasumi ran up the stairs and into her bathroom, where as
Mihoshi stomped up the stairs, her black shoulder length hair swaying
as she did so. Mihoshi lived alone, so she was not used to having
bedtimes and such. Mihoshi's parents were dead, and that's why she was
so often sad over Satoshi's death. The girl couldn't have any more
losses in her life. Anyway, Kasumi was brushing her teeth patiently,
unlike Mihoshi. Mihoshi shoved the toothbrush and paste into her mouth
and brushed as carelessly and as fast as she could. Mihoshi grabbed a
little dixicup thingy and filled it up with water. She drank it, spit
in the sink, and ran back into the bedroom. Kasumi shook her head as
she too finished up. The two girls slipped into bed, said their
goodnights and then they went to sleep.

The next morning, Kasumi sat at the breakfast table munching on some
bacon her mother had made. Mihoshi stumbled down the stairs after
Kasumi, her black hair all in a mess. "Morning," she mumbled as she
sat down at the table. "You slept in VERY late," Kasumi scolded.
Kasumi finished her bacon and grabbed her backpack. Mihoshi didn't
even notice, as she gulped down some orange juice, that Kasumi was
leaving to catch the bus. Mina-san looked at the clock and asked, "You
know that the bus should be coming right about now?" Mihoshi's eyes
widened and she got up from the table, grabbed her backpack, and ran
out the door just in time to see the bus leaving for the high school.
Mihoshi sighed and began to run after the bus. By the time she saw the
school, she also noticed that Usagi Tsukino, the only person to be
late for school 39 days in a row, was walking into school at that
moment. `If Usagi's already at school,' she thought sadly, `then I
really AM late....' She sadly walked in the building and made her way
to her locker. Mihoshi grabbed the necessary materials for class, and
closed the locker door. As she walked sadly down the corridors, she
spotted Usagi with a bucket of water on her head and a sign around her
neck that said, "I was late to class." Usagi attempted to wave, and in
the process dumped the bucket of water all over herself. Mihoshi waved
back, her spirits most definitely dampened. She walked into homeroom
just in time to see her teacher, Ms. Tenoka, introducing a new girl.
Ms. Tenoka turned around and looked at Mihoshi. "Mihoshi, are you
aware that you are..." Ms. Tenoka glanced at the clock, "15 minutes
late? But seeing as this is the first time you have ever been late, I
will pardon it. Now sit down." Mihoshi nodded and slinked quietly into
her seat. Most of the time, Mihoshi was an on time, perfect student.
Today however was different, and Mihoshi was wondering why. "Oh well,"
she sighed. "Now, as I was saying," Ms. Tenoka began, "this is Naoko
Fineemau. She is a transfer student from the United States, but she
shouldn't have a hard time here because she originally lived in Japan,
anyways. Naoko, could you please tell us something about yourself?"
Naoko squirmed uncomfortably. "Well, alright..." She said quietly as
she thought about something to say. "Like Ms. Tenoka said, my name is
Naoko Fineemau...maybe a few of you know me, because about 7 years ago
I lived here in Japan. My family moved to the United States for my
father's job. But now we can move back here, where I like it better."
Naoko took a second to cough, and then continued. "I have a mother, a
father, and a sister, Nicole, but she decided to go to T*A Private
Girl's School. Um...I have a pet cat named Kiniko, and she is a
reddish-black cat with green eyes. And...um...that's all I can think
of." Ms. Tenoka smiled at her, and then turned to the class. Ms.
Tenoka's eyes scanned the crowd, looking for an empty desk. She
spotted one next to a girl named Reiko. "Naoko, you can sit there,"
Ms. Tenoka said. As Naoko went to sit down, Mihoshi looked at her and
noticed that she kind of glow with a bright light. However, Mihoshi
ignored it because people don't glow.

Mihoshi grinned as she went to her locker to grab the necessary
equipment for home economics. On her way there, Kasumi passed her and
stopped to talk. "So why are you grinning so broadly?" Kasumi asked.
"Lunch is only 1 hour away!" Mihoshi squealed gladly. After all, the
only thing she had eaten yet happened to be her glass of orange juice.
Mihoshi grabbed her bag and waved to Kasumi as she made her way down
to her home economics classroom. "Yeah, see you in home economics!"
Kasumi shouted to her. As Mihoshi was in a hurry, she bumped into
someone on the way in the door. Her books and the other persons fell
to the floor. "Oh, I'm really, really sorry," Mihoshi muttered as she
picked up her books. She was avoiding eye contact. "It's all right...I
was in a hurry too," the voice responded. Mihoshi looked up quickly,
surprised that the voice that had responded was a male's. Mihoshi
blushed a deep magenta as she looked at him. The boy looked like
Satoshi, but a little younger. He smiled as he extended his hand.
"Need a little help up?" he asked nicely. "Um, thank you," Mihoshi
said as she accepted the help. "My name is Michiko Shoji. Just call me
Michiko, though... I am pleased to meet you. I suppose we'll be having
home economics together?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess so," Mihoshi
replied. "I don't know much guys who like home economics," she added.
Michiko laughed nervously. "Well, I like to cook and stuff, I
suppose," he told her. The both of them walked in the classroom.
Mihoshi sat next to Usagi, Naru, and Kasumi. Naoko came into the
classroom silently, and looked for a place to sit. "Over here!" Usagi
shouted. Naru waved to the new girl, but Mihoshi just continued to
look on. There was something remotely eerie about Naoko, or at least
Mihoshi thought so. Naoko smiled and quietly ran over to the girls.
Naoko sat across from Naru. Naoko quietly said "Hello." Kasumi grinned
and said "Hi. I see that you're the new girl around here. My name's
Kasumi." "I'm Usagi." "And I'm Naru!" "My name is Naoko," Naoko told
them quietly. Right away, it seemed that Mihoshi and Naoko would have
a hard time becoming friends. The two exchanged glances that clearly
stated, "I hate your guts." Kasumi nudged Mihoshi and whispered,
"Introduce yourself." Mihoshi made a forced smile and said, "I'm
Mihoshi." Naoko made a fake smile back.

Suddenly, the teacher spoke up. "Today we are going to be working on
cooking. Please take out your cook book and turn to page 183." Ms. Mau
also turned to that page, and then looked up again. "We will be making
Cold Nihon Soba. Please take out the required ingredients for this
recipe. That would be the following: Soba, ninben tsuyu no moto soup,
katsuobushi, leek or green onion, ground sesame seeds, nori, and
wasabi. I am assuming that you can read the way to prepare it, so I
won't need to tell you that. If you ever want to cook something, let
me know and I will put it in the oven or microwave for you, ok?" Ms.
Mau smiled, and then left everyone to do his or her assignments.
Mihoshi smiled and said, "I love cold nihon soba. Possibly my favorite
food." Naoko cringed. "I HATE soba of any sort...not to be rude or
anything Mihoshi," Naoko smiled back at her. Naru looked at Naoko.
"You know, you don't have any ingredients. So you could borrow mine if
you want," Naru helpfully told her. "Oh yes...thank you," Naoko
replied. Naru gave Naoko the necessary ingredients, and then the 5
girls started in unison. "Um.... First we have to boil the noodles,"
Usagi said, glancing down at the book. Kasumi turned on the tap next
to her and filled the noodle-filled bowl to the brim with steaming
water. The others watched silently and when Kasumi was done they did
the same. After waiting for a few minutes, the noodles were boiled.
"Now we cool the noodles with cold water," Naru explained. Mihoshi
gracefully exchanged the boiling, hot water in her bowl for cold water
in the faucet. Everyone repeated the process, and then their heads
turned to the book once again. "Prepare the noodle soup by adding
water to the concentrated soup, or ninben tsuyu no moto soup. Prepare
according to the instructions on the bottle," Kasumi read, and all of
them prepared the soup accordingly. "Number three: cut the nori, also
known as seaweed, into thin strips. But be careful, as you could
always cut yourself with the knife," Naoko read out of the book. All
at once, the girls sliced the tender seaweed into slim strips.
"Mmmm...looking tasty," Mihoshi whispered happily. "OK...now we slice
the leek or green onion into small pieces," Kasumi announced. Usagi
began to slice her leek, but she accidentally cut her hand too.
"AIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" She yelled, waving her hand around. Ms. Mau
stopped Usagi and took a look at the wound. It turns out that it was
about as severe as a paper cut. The girls then resumed work. "Now we
arrange the seaweed strips, leek or green onion, some ground sesame
seeds, some katsuobushi, which is dried Bonita flakes made from smoked
blocks of Bonita fish, and a little bit of wasabi, or hot green
horseradish, on a plate," Kasumi directed. Naru smiled, and did it so
neatly and silently (compared to Usagi, anyways,) that when Ms. Mau
walked past she praised her good working habits. Usagi rolled her
eyes. "How can you be `graceful and quiet,' as Mau said, when all that
you're doing is arranging spices???" The other girls weren't
listening, for they were busy arranging spices. Usagi noticed and did
so too. "Number six: the noodles are placed on a special bamboo plate,
and everyone gets a bowlful of soup," Mihoshi advised. Everybody
placed their noodles on the special bamboo plates, and put the bowls
of soup in front of them. "Lastly, the spices on plate can be added
into the soup individually. The noodles are dipped into the soup and
eaten," Naoko ordered. Mihoshi smiled as they all wrapped up their
plates, for they would eat the soba at lunch break. "Well, we're
done!" Usagi squealed happily. "Yeah, it only took circa 20 minutes,
too.... A bit longer then usual, but oh well. We'll live," Naru
replied. The girls chatted quietly for a few minutes, until Ms. Mau
told them it was lunchtime.

The 1^st one out the door was Mihoshi. Mihoshi wore a broad grin as
she raced through the doors and into the lunchroom. As soon as she sat
down, she hastily opened her napkin and started on her soup and cold
soba. Soon after, Kasumi and Makoto came by and sat down next to her.
Makoto didn't have home economics yet, so she brought a homemade
lunch. "So what's up?" Mihoshi asked through a mouthful of noodles.
Kasumi instinctively replied, "Sky. Why? Did you not already know
that?" Mihoshi rolled her eyes and continued to munch on some noodles.
Makoto stared in the distance and sighed. "What?" Mihoshi and Kasumi
asked in unison. Makoto pointed to a guy and said, "He looks just like
my old sempai." Their eyes narrowed, and Mihoshi uttered, "We know..."
Even though Mihoshi and Kasumi hadn't known Makoto Kino for very long,
they already knew that Makoto simply loved to say that. Mako had
already said it 13 times in their presence. "Why were you being so
rude to that new girl??" Kasumi inquired Mihoshi. Mako looked up. "You
were being rude to a new girl?? Why?" Mihoshi sighed and stirred her
soup. "I don't know...it's not like I want to be rude...it's just like
we were made to hate each other or sumthin'." Kasumi grinned. "I know
how that is," she sympathized. Kasumi clenched her fists as she
thought. Mihoshi knew that she had always hated a girl named Ayeka
Ginora. They had been enemies ever since Kasumi was 7. Makoto spoke
up. "You know, I've noticed that Naoko girl too. She seems like a nice
person. Now we are friends, so you better be decently kind to her in
my presence." Kasumi brushed a piece of red hair out of her eyes
before starting on some of her cold soba too. Makoto sighed, as she
was left all alone as Kasumi and Mihoshi ate ravenously. Makoto too
dug into her lunchbox for something to eat.

The rest of the day went smoothly, and before they knew it, it was
time to climb on the bus and go home. The bus was full of the noises
of children talking, but it all stopped abruptly when they all heard a
SQUEEK!! Everyone turned to the back of the bus and stared at Mihoshi.
She was gleefully pressing a little squeaky blue star key chain
connected to her backpack. She finally noticed that they all were
staring and looked up abruptly. "Continue conversing, unless you all
are more interested in my wicked cool squeaky star!
Muahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!" They all quickly began talking
again. Makoto and Kasumi stifled laughs. Mihoshi, however, continued
to insanely squeak the star. "Where'd ya get the star anyways?" Kasumi
asked when she was done giggling. "My math teacher gave the cute thing
to me for getting fifteen one hundred percents in a row. Awwwww! Isn't
he cute? The star, I mean. Awwwww! Yes he is! Yes he isss..." Mihoshi
cooed. Makoto gave her a weird look, and then kind of just let Mihoshi
continue.

"Oh, you know what?" Makoto suddenly asked. "Hm?" Mihoshi looked up
from the smiling star and paid attention. "Naoko invited me over to
study. And she invited you too, Kasumi, and you, Mihoshi. You wanna
come?" Kasumi immediately responded, "Sure!" Mihoshi grimaced and said
through gritted teeth, "Why not??" Makoto noticed how much Mihoshi
didn't want to, and smiled. "I really appreciate it, Mihoshi. And
maybe you guys can put aside your differences and become good
friends." The bus came to a stop on the corner of Crossroads Avenue,
the street Naoko lived on. The three girls bounded off the bus and
watched silently as it sped away. Kasumi's bright green eyes turned on
1193 Crossroads Ave., Naoko's house. Makoto grabbed Mihoshi and
Kasumi's arms, and ran toward the house. Mihoshi held her breath as
Makoto rung the doorbell. `It's not like I want to hate her, she seems
like a nice person...But she just.... well.... why do I hate her
anyways?' Mihoshi pondered silently while they waited for a response.
Finally, a girl that looked circa 14 years old opened the door and
peered out of her glasses to the 3 on the doorstep. "Are you Naoko's
friends?" she asked in a silent voice. "Yeah," Kasumi said. The girl
led them inside and to Naoko's room. Knocking on the door, the girl
yelled, "NAOKO! Your friends are here!" A muffled response came from
inside. "Yeah, thanks Nicole!" The door slowly opened to reveal Naoko
inside. "Hello!" she said cheerily. "Hihi," Mihoshi mumbled briskly.
Mihoshi stared down at her feet, ashamed at the way she seemed so rude
to Naoko. "Oh, I'm glad to see you are here...um...Mihoshi, wasn't
it?" Naoko peered at her. "Yeah," Mihoshi replied. Nicole walked past
the girls and into the room. She sat down at the computer and turned
it on. Kasumi looked at her curiously. "Oh, well, come on in," Naoko
let the girls in and shut the door briskly.

They sat down, Mihoshi in a beanbag, Kasumi in a chair, and Makoto on
the bed. The girls looked around. The room was fairly large, and
decorated briefly in shades of black and white, mostly. There were
bunk beds, the top bed was black, and the bottom was bright, bright
orange, flowered white. A poster of the anime "Dragon ball Z" hung on
the ceiling above the top bunk. Naoko smiled and asked, "Would you
guys like some soda pop?" They nodded and Naoko walked over to a
little refrigerator in the corner of the room. Kasumi stared. "You
have your own fridge AND a computer??" Naoko nodded as she tossed them
a can of Pepsi each. "Well, it's not exactly my own, it's Nicole's
too," she added. Makoto opened her can carefully and looked up at
Naoko. "Where EXACTLY did you get this.... `Peep see', Naoko? I've
never heard of it before." Naoko grinned. "Not telling." "I love soda
pop! Not close to my favorite, but still excellent. And I've never
heard of this Peep see brand, " Makoto replied. Kasumi seemed to want
to know a little bit about Nicole, for she seemed awfully silent and
sad, typing away at the keyboard like she did. "Nicole?" Kasumi asked
to see if she would talk. Nicole finished typing a sentence and then
looked over her shoulder. "Yes?" she asked, looking at Kasumi.
"Umm.... I was wondering.... how old are you anyways? Fourteen?"
Kasumi asked her, noting that they could probably be friends. Nicole
grinned broadly and replied, "Actually, I'm 12." Naoko smiled and
patted Nicole on the back. "Yeah, my little sister's the exact
opposite of me. She's A LOT taller then me, you know," she
acknowledged. Nicole returned to typing at the computer. "What are you
writing about, anyways?" Naoko asked, looking over her shoulder.
"Nothing really.... just a story about some of the sailor senshi. You
see, it's like this: the sailor senshi are just talking about matters,
when...BAM!! Lead Crow comes in and kills `em all. Very gory too. The
end," Nicole smirked as she finished. Mihoshi's eyes opened widely as
Nicole came to the end. Naoko must have noticed because she quickly
said, "Nicole has been watching the news too much and has heard some
stories about fighting. It's not like she's a gory gross blood-liking
freak, sometimes she just...acts like it." Mihoshi nodded and sipped
her drink. Makoto finished up her soda pop and threw the can in the
trash bin. Nicole frowned and whined, "How come no one asked if I
wanted a Pepsi?? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" She calmly turned to the right
and looked at the fridge. All of a sudden, the fridge opened and a can
of Pepsi floated over to Nicole. She grabbed it in mid-air and popped
it open. Makoto, Mihoshi, and Kasumi stared as Nicole went back to
typing feverishly at the computer. Naoko grinned and simply said,
"She's a psychic." Nicole turned around and stared at Kasumi. "I even
know what you're thinking," she whispered happily. "You don't need to
think I'm weird, SD," she added. Kasumi was confused and wondered why
she had called her SD. Suddenly it hit her. `She knows that I'M Sailor
Destiny!' she realized. She glanced at Mihoshi and Makoto, and,
judging by the look on their faces, knew that too. However, Naoko did
not, and gave them all a weird look. "What did you mean by, `SD'?" she
asked Nicole. Nicole replied, "I meant a pun off of her name. Her
middle name is Sabrina, and her last name is Dafigna. Right?"

Naoko shrugged and said, "How'd you know anyways?" Nicole grinned and
pointed to her head. "I've been developing psychic powers! Yay!" The
girls frowned as they ran out of things to do. Finally, Kasumi snapped
her fingers and yelled, "I've got it! Why don't we have a singing
contest?" Naoko smiled. "Sure!" Nicole shrugged. "Ok, sure.... who
wants to go first?" "Um...how about Kasumi and Mihoshi?" Mako
suggested. Kasumi and Mihoshi stood up and they grinned. "But I'm
warning you," Mihoshi said, "we don't exactly, like...sing well."
Naoko shrugged and replied, "I suck." "Well, what song do you wanna
sing?" Nicole asked. Kasumi and Mihoshi whispered to each other for a
few minutes, before Kasumi's bright green eyes turned up. "We'll sing
`Ai no senshi.' I always liked that song," Kasumi said. Nicole looked
through a ton of CD's before finding a CD that looked like she had
made it herself. "Fortunately enough, I have the background music to
it on this CD," she said, throwing the CD in the CD player. Nicole
asked them if they were ready. Kasumi nodded and Nicole played the CD.
Suddenly, they began to sing. "Kami ga sora ni moeagaru," Kasumi
crooned. "Karada ga honou no you yo" Mihoshi sang. "Yada ha nande kou
naru no, Honto Ni mou okocchau kara!" Kasumi added. " Koi wo shite
setsunai mama! Amai yume wo mitetai no ni. Yurusenai, Aitsu-ra no sei
yo!" "Yappari watashi yarukkyanai ne. Tataki tsbushite yaru ha Kono te
de aku wo Sou yo sore mad. Gambaranakuccha Mezame nasai ai senshi yo!"
they sang together. Mako, Nicole, and Naoko clapped. Mihoshi glared at
them as they did so. "We're not finished!" she whispered hoarsely.
"Donna warui hito datte Suki nara shinjite miru no Sore wo riyou suru
nante Sonna no yaccha ikenai no yo," Kasumi continued singing,
ignoring them. "Itsu datte mamoritai no Anata no tame tonde yuku ha Ai
dake ga kagirinai enaji..." Mihoshi continued. "Nee watashi-tachi
yarukkyanai ne Onna no ko no junjou Misete yaru no yo Nani ga nandemo
Gambaranakucha Mune Ni chikau ai no senshi yo!" Kasumi shrieked (or at
least as Mihoshi would put it.) A pause, then.... "Nee watashi tachi
yarukkyanai ne Tataki tsubushite yaru ha Kono te de aku wo Sou yo sore
made Ganbaranakucha Mezame nasai ai no senshi yo," Mihoshi and Kasumi
finished happily. Mako, Nicole, and Naoko clapped enthusiastically. "I
think it was," Nicole said, "very, very good, however..." she grimaced
as Mako finished for her. "What I think she's trying to say is that it
was very beautiful, but however...you kind of sounded a little
too...rusty," she explained. Kasumi and Mihoshi nodded. "I'll go
next," Nicole said. "What song do you wanna sing?" Naoko inquired.
Nicole pondered for a moment. "Well...I think I'll do `Ai no Senshi,'
too, just in English...I need to practice my translating," she
explained. Mihoshi nodded as she replayed the music. "Into the sky, my
hair bursts afire. My body is just like a flame," Nicole began
happily. "Oh no, why is it turning out like this? Now I am really
burning up...er...inside! While I am in love, and feeling heartache,
even though I want to have sweet dreams...they will not allow it, this
is their fault!" Kasumi considered the way she sang as Nicole
continued. "As I thought, it is I who must do this, by my own hand I
will crush evil into defeat. That's right, until then, I must
persevere! Awaken now, soldier of love.... No matter how bad a person
you are, if I love you, I will believe in you!" Mako yawned, as she
hadn't gotten much sleep. "Trying to take advantage of that is
something you must not do. I always want to protect you, for you I
will go leaping forward. Only love is unlimited energy. Um...come on,
it is...err...we who must do this. We will show them the...erm...I
can't think of the word..." "Pure hearts," Naoko said helpfully.
"Right. Pure hearts that girls have! Whatever we do, in everything, we
must persevere! Vowing in our hearts, the soldiers of love. Come on,
it is w...we who must do this. By our own hands we will crush the evil
into defeat. That's.... right...until then, we must persevere. Awaken
now, soldiers of love!" as she finished, Naoko clapped happily, proud
of all the Japanese her mostly American sister had learned. After all,
she had only been about 4 years old when they left Japan. Mihoshi
yawned as she said, "It sounded nice, but what did it all mean? And
you were just a LITTLE bit out of tune...." She felt bad for sounding
rude. "It was the exact same thing as `Ai no senshi,' but in English.
And it was out of tune as English isn't translated...err...perfectly
into Japanese," Naoko said, sticking up for Nicole. "Aw...it did suck,
but hey, I just like singing!" Nicole announced happily. "Well, me and
Mako have yet to sing," Naoko announced. Mako smiled and said,
"Nooo...I'm not gonna sing. You can, Naoko." Naoko nodded and thought
for a moment. Finally, she nodded. "I'm gonna sing the Three Light's
hit song: Todokanu no Omoi. K?" Nicole nodded and switched to a Three
Light's CD. Naoko got ready as Nicole skipped through the tracks to
find the song. "Yume no naka de nandomo so tsu to kuchizuke kawashita.
Suki to oru tsuburana hitomi Ni, suikomare teiku!" she sung when the
music began to play. "Kimi no naka de madoru mu, Nuku mari ni
tsutsumarete sou. Aa itsuma demo sa menaideto! Tsurakusa kebunosa..."
she imitated the dance moves of Yaten as she pranced around the room.
"Mune no nakuno takanarikara, jibun de mo honki to shiru. Setsuna
sugite modokashikute... Akiramekirenai!" Naoko began to dance like
Taiki and everyone continued staring, hypnotized, at Naoko. She sang
EXACTLY like the Three Lights!

"Motsu to deaiga hayakerebato.... Ii wake bakari mitsuketeru! Tsukino
hikari ga todokanu kanata he aa kimi wo tsuresaritai. Asa
yakehiterasareta, Kimo no egao mabushisugite. Kono mama fukari
shiteiku, Jibun ga koi yo!" Fui ni naru, PHS ga cutari no kiyori ni
rakuyo. Tomodachi da to ii ni todato, Warikirenakute!" Then she
started dancing like Seiya, or "At least tried to dance like Seiya,"
as Mihoshi put it.

"Kinou an'nani yasashiku temo, Ima doro aitsunou denonaka!!! Tsukino
hikari ga todokanu kanata he, Aa kimi wo tsure saritai.... Motsu to
deaiga hayakerebato... Ii wake bakari mitsuketeru..." They clapped as
the song came to an abrupt end. "I liked everything, except for the
dancing..."Nicole was cut short as they heard a yell from upstairs.
"GIRLS! COME UPSTAIRS!" It sounded like Naoko and Nicole's mother.
"COMING!" Nicole yelled back. Naoko bounded over to the door and
opened it. "Come on," she said as she ushered the girls through the
passageway. As they ran up the stairs, Nicole tripped and Mako
accidentally ran over her. "Sorry!" she said as she helped Nicole to
her feet. " `S all right," Nicole said. As soon as they were upstairs,
Naoko's mother turned away from the stove. "My, you have a lot of
friends over," she said as she glanced at the girls. "Well, yeah,"
Naoko said. Naoko's mom turned to the girls. "Would you care to stay
for dinner? I'm making Gyoza, with some soda to drink and perhaps some
rice and fruit pudding." They all smiled. "I'd be glad to accept your
invitation... Um... Naoko's mom," Mako said happily. "Well, that's
nice...How much to do you all like to eat, anyways?? Oh, and you can
call me Mrs. Fineemau, or Sakura.... K??" Mrs. Fineemau told them.
"Well," Kasumi said, "Mihoshi can eat more than a starving army
could..." Mihoshi glared at her, where as Mrs. Fineemau just laughed.
"I'll be sure to make a lot off food then...is there anything else you
girls would like to eat??" Mrs. Fineemau asked. "Well.... I like
rice," Nicole said helpfully as she picked a scrunchy up off of the
counter and put her hair in a bun. "Of course, dear...Now, I'm sorry I
interrupted you...Supper should be done in about a half an hour, K?
You can go back to whatever you were doing now." The girls then ran
gleefully back downstairs, and this time, Mako was careful not to step
on Nicole.

"You know, I saw the cutest guy in the hall today. His name was
Michiko Shoji, but he told me just to call him Michiko. He looked like
Satoshi for some odd reason, too," Mihoshi said suddenly, as she
painted her fingernails. "Ooooh...Mihoshi's new boyfriend??" Kasumi
inquired, and Mihoshi slapped her upside the head, spilling nail
polish on the bedspread. "Mihosheeeee, look at what you did!!" Kasumi
squealed. Naoko glanced away from a math paper she was doing and
looked at the mess. Naoko smiled and said, "Look! It's ok...It matches
the blanket!" Kasumi looked down and noted that actually, the nail
polish happened to be the EXACT same shade of orange as Naoko's
comforter. Kasumi growled. Nicole looked up from the picture she was
drawing (Trunks from Dragon ball Z) and stared at Mihoshi for a
second. "I thought you said that you would never fall in love again,"
she said finally. Mihoshi looked puzzled, before narrowing her eyes at
Nicole. "I HATE that mind-reading thingy you can do," Mihoshi told
her. Nicole grinned. "I know." Suddenly, another yell came from
upstairs. "GIRLS! SUPPER!" it was. Mihoshi grinned. "I was
starving!!!" she commented as they walked gleefully up the stairs.
"Aren't you ALWAYS??" Kasumi asked, her blue eyes twinkling. Mihoshi
hit her in the head and mumbled, "Shut up," as they took their seats
at the supper table.

Mako got up from the table and washed her dishes. "Thank you for the
meal, Mrs. Fineemau. It was delicious!" she said over the rush of
pouring water. "Thank you very much, Makoto," Mrs. Fineemau replied as
she heaped a little more rice pudding onto the ever-hungry Mihoshi's
plate. Following suit, Naoko, Kasumi and Nicole carefully got up from
the table and washed their dishes also. As they did so, Mihoshi
finished up her pudding and washed her plate, too. "Thanks a lot Mrs.
Fineemau...I liked supper a lot," Mihoshi said as she scrubbed her
dish clean. "Yeah, me too," Nicole said. "Thanks Mom!" Naoko said,
drying her plate carefully. "Yes, thanks very much for the meal,"
Kasumi added in as they all put their dishes carefully into the
cabinet. Mrs. Fineemau grinned appreciatively. "Why, thank you!" she
said. "You girls can come over to eat any time you'd like. K?" The
girls nodded as Naoko led them down the stairs. Once they stumbled
back inside Naoko's room, they started on their immensely large amount
of homework.

"Thanks for helping me with my homework, you guys...I really hate
math," Nicole said as she crammed her math into her backpack. "It was
no problem at all," Kasumi said. "Yeah, I forgot what it was like to
have such easy homework, but " Mako added, "you might wanna check over
the math with a calculator, because the last quiz I took I got a
thirteen out of forty on..."

Mihoshi looked at the clock. It was 8:30. "Oh no! Mina-san expected us
home," Mihoshi whined. "Oh, `s ok, Mom won't mind," Kasumi said.
"Well, I s'pose you can leave now...would you like me and Nicole to
walk ya guys over?" Kasumi waved her hand aside and replied, "No. But
thanks for askin'." Naoko turned to Mako, "Would you like to spend the
night?" Mako grinned. "Sure! Well, if that's OK with Mihoshi and
Kasumi, anyways." Mihoshi nodded. Both Kasumi and Mihoshi picked up
their backpacks. "Well, C ya later!" Kasumi yelled as they walked out
of Naoko's room. "Yeah, g'bye!" Mihoshi said as they ran up the stairs
and out of the door.

The trip back to Kasumi's was relatively normal. They saw a shooting
star and watched the CUTEST little squirrel cross the road, but that
was it. And they talked about the boy Michiko, too. When they walked
inside the house, Mina-san was sitting at the table, reading a book.
Upon hearing their arrival, she jumped up and hugged Kasumi and
Mihoshi. "I'm glad you are home now," she said. "Well, yeah...sorry it
took us so long, Mom," Kasumi said, "but we were at my friend
Naoko's." "I was worried," Mina-san frowned. "Next time call, ok?"
Mihoshi and Kasumi nodded solemnly. Kasumi suddenly spotted a pile of
cookies on the table. `Oh no...' she thought. `Mihoshi's gonna eat
them all!!!' In a few seconds, Kasumi knew that Mihoshi had found thy
cookies, for Mihoshi then ran straight across the room and began
cramming them in her mouth. Mina-san smiled. "I hoped you would like
them," she said, watching Mihoshi gorge herself. "Vell, ya," Mihoshi
mumbled with a mouth full of the chocolate chips. She swallowed and
then continued. "How could no one not? Your cookies are the best!"
Mina-san beamed. "Why thank you!" Kasumi rolled her eyes and picked a
smaller one of the cookies up off of the plate.