"What parts?" Neko asked skeptically
"Well, like where we get to have secret rendezvous and come up with excuses to see each other and make up for all that time we spent not seeing each other�," Tenshi suggested as she took Neko's hand.
Neko giggled. "How many times have you done this?"
Not enough for you to be jealous of," Tenshi answered quickly. "Here's to a beautiful friendship." She kissed Neko's hand.
Neko giggled again. "I don't think I've ever kissed a friend's hand," she pointed out.
"And to new friendly gestures," Tenshi added with another kiss to the hand. "We'll just have to be best friends with benefits!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi stopped at the Mizuno house, popped the trunk, and jumped out of the car. She ran to the back and lifted both of Hoshi's bags out of the trunk.
"What do you think you're doing?" Hoshi asked as she walked back there.
"Helping you with your bags," Tenshi answered with her most charming smile. She was willing to play bellhop if it meant Hoshi would give her a chance. "Don't worry. I've got both of them."
"Well, yeah. They're not that heavy." Hoshi refused to be impressed by Tenshi's chivalry.
"O�kay," Tenshi said under her breath, as she carried the bags up to the door of the house.
"Come on, Neko-chan," Hoshi said dragging Neko behind her. "I wanna see your house. When does Mi-chan come home?"
"Not too long." Neko was trying to balance her attention between the two girls. It was too bad that Hoshi wasn't falling for Tenshi's natural charm. But despite her concern for Tenshi's feelings, Hoshi's sudden excitement was contagious. And as no one had spoken much in the car, Neko suddenly felt she had lots to say. "You should see it. It's not as big as the palace, of course, but it's more cozy. Ohmigosh, we're gonna have so much fun. Mi-chan and I want to take you everywhere. You should see our mall, it's huge and the ice cream parlor there has like five types of coffee ice cream. And the arcade is awesome. And there's a really neat museum about a mile away. You'll love it. And we can go to the beach. And we're gonna see Mi-chan race and-"
"Ano�." The girls had been busy walking and talking and had made their way into the living room, leaving Tenshi behind in the hall with Hoshi's bags. And though Tenshi had a great capacity for patience, she knew when it was time to hit the road. She poked her head around the doorway. "�Koneko, I think I'm gonna go, if that's okay with you."
"Oh!" Neko detached herself from Hoshi and ran back to the hallway. "You don't have to," she told her sincerely.
"I think I should. I don't want to intrude on your reunion."
"Okay." Neko smiled appreciatively at her. They started toward the door.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Then uncertainly, Tenshi added, "You are coming to pole vault, right?"
"Uh huh," Neko nodded fervently.
Tenshi's features relaxed with the confirmation. "Okay, I'll pick you up at one then. I'll see you." Then to Hoshi she called, "Nice to meet you, Hoshi-san."
"Bye," Neko whispered.
She raised her hand, ready to wave goodbye. Tenshi touched her fingertips to Neko's, as if in a kiss. "Love you," she mouthed as she backed out the door.
Neko waved and turned back to return to the living room.
"Kami, you guys take forever to say goodbye," Hoshi said incredulously.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan came running in the house, happy a) to have won her race and b) to be seeing Hoshi.
"I'm home," she yelled as she searched for her sister and friend.
Soon they ran downstairs to greet her.
"Mi-chan!" Hoshi cried as she threw herself at her other best friend for a hug. It was a pretty typical Hoshi greeting. But as Hoshi was smaller than the twins and pretty light, Mi-chan didn't mind� as long as she knew it was coming. "How was your race?" Hoshi wanted to know.
"Oh, great," Mi-chan sighed contently. "Not only did I win, but one of the guys was so impressed, he asked me out afterwards. Not that I'm gonna say yes," she said quickly after a look from Neko, "but it's nice to be asked."
"Why aren't you saying yes?" Hoshi was in the dark.
"Mi-chan's in lo-ove," Neko sang.
It was total payback for Mi-chan endlessly teasing her about Tenshi for two months, and Mi-chan knew it. "Shut up!" she said with a look. Off of Hoshi's questioning look, Mi-chan admitted, "I so am. With Jian-wa."
"Ohmigod!" Hoshi squealed (there was a lot of squealing when the three of them got together). "I can't believe you're going steady with someone! Wait," she looked at Neko, "isn't Jian-wa-san your friend? Oh, wait! Wasn't he your best friend?"
Neko looked down. "He was, but� we had a fight. And since then, things haven't exactly been the same between us. We're friends again, but not like we were before."
*Poor, Neko-chan* Mi-chan thought. Neither girl thought that the Sailor Senshi stuff should be brought up with Hoshi, but Neko hated to lie, which meant she had to tell a tailored truth to satisfy her own moral principles and the listener's acceptance of the story.
But Mi-chan was glad that Neko had said she and Jian-wa were friends. That meant it had to be true. And Jian-wa's betrayal was always such a touchy subject to bring up in front of Neko, since she had been there for the entire act of treachery and its consequences and didn't have thirteen years of forgiveness built up for him like Mi-chan had. So both twins and Jian-wa tried to avoid the subject. But that meant that things like that weren't always totally confirmed.
"Anyway, the important thing is that he's been forgiven and we're in love," Mi-chan finished for Neko.
"Wow, in love," Hoshi's eyes sparkled. "I never thought you'd actually find a guy to fall in love with. And how perfect that he's someone who's friends with Neko-chan. That's so romantic!"
Mi-chan could sense that Neko was eager to change the subject, so she quickly went back to talking about dirt biking. "Anyway, back to the race, the semifinals are next week. Are you guys coming?"
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