Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Waking Ami ❯ New Friends: A Month In The Life ( Chapter 11 )

Waking Ami

Chapter 11

New Friends, A Month In The Life

PinaPoe

Juni and Ami slowly ascended the path that lead up to the Hikawa Temple. They took their time as they walked hand in hand up the private scenic route. They enjoyed their time together in a companionable silence, both enjoying the rare sounds of nature around them. Once they neared the top Juni lightly squeezed Ami's hand before letting it go and widening the space between them slightly.

At the top of the sloped path was a large cobble stone courtyard that held the gift shop and lead to the entrance of the main temple. A younger man stood sweeping leaves in front of the main temples arched entrance. He was taller than most, and if you looked close upon his half beautiful, half handsome features you could hardly tell what his national origins were. It was doubtful he was Japanese, although his face strongly suggested it. He was too tall and his hair naturally too light to be full blooded.

The man paused in his sweeping and looked up, waving when he recognized Ami. The young genius had to look twice as she almost didn't recognize him herself. She was used to seeing him shabbily dressed, and overly stressed, sitting by Makoto "her savior's" bedside. Now he was cleaned up and dressed in the robes of a temple worker. Juni followed her girlfriend as she lead them to talk to the younger man, who looked close to her natural age of twenty-three.

"Mr. Fiore, you are looking much better, does that mean Makoto is awake? Is she alright?" Ami spoke rapidly; hoping that the man's presence away from his "Girlfriend?" was a good sign that said girl was recovered.

"Yes, she is recovering nicely and is feisty as ever. I am out here helping out because she practically threw me out of her room. Grandpa Hino insisted that she stay in bed for another day or two, and it's driving her crazy." Fiore looked up from Ami to Juni, who was standing a few paces behind her. The younger man casually nodded in her direction acknowledging her presence.

Ami almost forgot that Juni had never met Fiore, so she hastened to introduce them. "Mr. Fiore, this is my, err my uh best friend, and uhm tutor, Juni Asagai." Ami became intensely flustered as she spoke; she never had to introduce Juni to anyone before, and was not quite sure on the proper introduction to give. She continued introductions as the flames in her cheeks died down. Both Juni and Fiore looked on in amusement and curiosity, respectively.

After introductions were made Fiore excused himself back to his work. He let them know that Makoto was most probably still awake and tearing down the walls in her room. Juni also inquired about the old priests whereabouts without any success.

The two women easily found their way to Makoto's room. They found the girl in the middle of an exercise routine. She was currently performing some sit up repetitions, and obviously looked like she was feeling better

"Uhm, Hello?" Ami timidly called out, not really sure if she should interrupt the exercises, or alert the older teen to her presence.

The older teen, upon hearing Ami's greeting finished a few more sit-ups before rolling herself up to a standing position. She stretched a few times before turning to greet her visitors. As she turned she noted both women standing there suddenly get flustered and attempt to avert their eyes. Makoto for a second felt insulted until she realized that her clothes were probably the cause of their discomfort.

She was wearing a thin white t-shirt and a small pair of shorts. Both of which were thoroughly saturated with sweat. The shirt unfortunately had turned quite transparent, and the older teen never did have the money to buy any supportive garments. Makoto rolled her eyes as she turned to find the robe the old man had left for her. ::Jeeze what's their problem, it's not like they don't have a pair of tits themselves.::

Now properly dressed Makoto turned to once again greet her visitors. Both of which were still blushing, but they were at least making eye contact this time. "Eh, sorry about that. You caught me in the middle of my workout. You must be…" Makoto stopped for a second as her eyes locked with Ami's a brief, but strong current of recognition ran through her. It was obvious that Ami had felt whatever it was as well.

Slightly off kilter the older teen shrugged off the strange feeling that the younger girl had caused. Ami, also tried to ignore it, not quite sure how to even describe what she felt. Juni noticed the reaction, and unconsciously moved a little closer to her girlfriend.

"You must be Ami, and?" Makoto raised a questioning eyebrow in Juni's direction.

Juni gave a polite smile as she bowed and introduced herself. "I am Juni Asagai. I came with Ami to thank you for what you have done for us, for her." With her thanks Juni bowed deeper and held it a touch longer. Ami also bowed to express her deep gratitude for the sacrifice the girl had made on her behalf.

It was Makoto's turn to blush as she tried to shrug off the thanks. She was not used to playing the hero, and she was definitely not used to any one thanking, or praising her for anything. "Yeah, uhm don't mention it. I was just doin what needed to be done, ya know?" The older teen turned to Ami hoping to get some of the attention off herself. "Besides, she tried to save me there too. Course, that kind of defeated the purpose of what I was trying to do but it all work out in the end."

The attention was turned on Ami for a second as Juni gave her a questioning glace as if to say "you never told me that." Ami gave her a look that pleaded with her to ask about it later.

Makoto noticed the silent exchange, making a few assumptions about the two in the process.

Juni shrugged and returned her attention to the obviously uncomfortable Makoto. "Nevertheless, I thank you very much. And even if it were the right thing to do, not many people would have had the courage to step into a hopeless fight. If there is anything you ever need, or want please call me and I will take care of it." Juni handed the stunned looking Makoto a business card that held her full name and number, along with that of her school, Crystal Academy.

"Crystal huh? Hey I know this place, I passed by it the other day. You work there or something?"

Juni was about to answer, when Grandpa Hino casually strolled into the room. "Ah Ami, Ms. Asagai, it's a pleasure to see such lovely women grace my temple again. Now I have four beautiful people here with me!"

Ami blushed again, while Juni seemed uncomfortable and confused. Makoto just rolled her eyes, hearing from Fiore about all the flirtatious advances of the old man. She herself experienced a good bit of it, but only after the priest was sure that she was healthy again. It was that consideration that let Makoto feel that the old man was harmless. Otherwise she would have clocked him a long time ago.

"Ami I hope you don't mind, but I must borrow your "friend" here for a moment." Ami turned even redder as the old man waggled his thick gray eyebrows at her while he drug a bewildered looking Juni away. Turning back to Makoto, Ami shared a confused look with the older teen both wondering what the heck just happened.

Juni in the meantime followed a step behind the old priest, making sure to always stay behind him and not to look at him directly. She remembered the lesson she and her companion received the last time, and had no intentions of re-experiencing that. She was not sure what to make of her situation when the old man brought her to his table and once again severed her tea.

The two sat in silence, the old priest happily sipping away at his cup, only commenting once that Juni's tea would get cold if she did not drink it. Juni just went along with that and sipped her tea as well. The tea she surmised was actually some of the best she had ever tasted, and she realized why the old man liked it so much.

Once the tea was finished the old man took the cups from the table. Upon returning he faced Juni with a serious expression, but spoke in a friendly tone. "Asagai-sensei, I would like to ask you a favor. And before you say anything, this is indeed your choice and I will not try to sway you in any way."

Juni and Garoben were confused, not only because of the polite friendly manner in which he was asking the request, but also because he was not showing any signs of his true identity. The old man wasn't even radiating the aura of energy that most disguised Yoma did. Not wanting to keep him waiting Juni quickly set aside her questions to respond.

"What kind of request are we talking about?"

The old man smiled a slightly mischievous smile, Juni seemed to squirm in her seat at this. Laughing to himself the old man stopped his teasing and continued forth with his true agenda. "The girl Makoto and her friend Fiore have both been living homeless for some time. The boy cannot work a conventional job for various reasons so I have offered him a job working at my temple. I will give him and Makoto room and board for this, but I cannot pay them."

"What I would like, is for you to hire on Makoto at your school. I don't know what kind of positions you might have available, but from what she says she is a very dedicated worker."

Setting aside her surprise at the totally unexpected request, Juni turned to her business mode and thought of what use she might have for Makoto. Not that she even needed a valid one, the girl saved her Ami. She would gladly create a make believe position for her. But as the fates would have it, she did have the perfect idea.

"I could use her as a custodian. I am currently having a cleaning company come in once a night, but it could work out better to have her there throughout the day." Juni continued thinking over the idea, she was easily convinced that it would work out great.

The old man beamed, happy that Juni was able to find something. "By the way, might I suggest that part of her duties be to meet your Ami after school.?"

"Well, Ami might get a little offended by that, but it is a good idea. At the very least I would feel better knowing that she would have someone watching out for her.

"Wonderful! It's settled then." The old man smiled, happy to have solved several problems in one strike. "Well then, you should probably get back to the girls. Have a good day Asagai-sensei."

Juni didn't need to be told twice, she hastily excused herself from the table and from the disguised demon's presence. She honestly didn't know which was worse, having him acting the part of a demon, or having him cheerfully playing the part of the eccentric old priest. Either way the less time she had to be in his presence the better.

While Juni and Grandpa Hino were talking, Ami and Makoto were left to themselves. Neither girl really knew what to say to the other, and the silence quickly became uncomfortable. Ami tried to look at anything but the girl in front of her, while the older teen was taking the silence as a chance to study the younger girl beside her.

As the silence drug on Makoto broke it by asking the first question that popped to her mind. "So, Ami, are you and the teacher a couple?"

Ami sputtered and became intensely flustered at the bluntness of Makoto's question. She could hardly believe the older teen had asked the question, much less think of an answer to give her.

Makoto noted Ami's reaction and hastened to calm the younger teen's obvious embarrassment. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be so blunt about it. I'm not bothered by it or anything. That kind of thing actually happened a lot between girls while I was in prison." The older teen paused a moment at seeing Ami's interest peeked before realizing what her statement could imply.

"Of course, I never went there or anything. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I just didn't, you know." Makoto was now officially embarrassed. "Y'know I think I am just going to shut up now."

Ami smiled at the older teens flustered state. This was the first time she was able to get a good look at the older teen. She was only a few inches shorter that Juni, but she did seem to have the same type of athletic build. And from what Ami could recall from the very detailed view she got earlier, it might easily be comparable. There was something about the older teen's look as well. Like Fiore, Makoto was probably not all Japanese. The mix, whatever it was, made for a strikingly beautiful woman. Ami thought for a moment on how her eyes were especially stunning.

Realizing what she was starting to visualize, Ami quickly derailed that train of thought. Soon the two girls were once again stuck in an uncomfortable silence. Ami sighed, now it was her turn to try and break the ice. "You mentioned prison? How long were you there, what did you do?"

The change in subject calmed the older girl down a bit and she thankfully went along with it. "Jeeze you go straight for the hard questions don't you."

From there Makoto told Ami a horribly neutered version of things that had happened. She didn't say much, but she did say much more than she normally would to a complete stranger. She was not sure what it was, but there was something about this shorthaired girl that seemed achingly familiar. Ami's thoughts also paralleled the older brunette's and as they continued to converse both struggled to try and remember where they knew the other from. That, and why they felt like they somehow felt something, a connection of sorts. Something that was far older than either of them.

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"You and Makoto seemed to be getting along well." Juni commented on the drive back to her apartment.

"Yeeess." Ami drug out the word, teasing her girlfriend as she could hear the obvious jealousy in her voice. The sentiment was endearing to Ami. She had never had anyone jealous for her before. "We seemed to hit it off a bit. She is pretty interesting, a little closed off though." Ami smiled at her girlfriend trying to show her that she need not worry where her affections lye. "I think that we could become friends."

Juni sighed, knowing that she was being overly possessive. "Then I am happy for you. When was the last time you had a friend your age anyway?"

Ami took on a wistful look. "I think two moves ago. I made friends with another girl, but I think my constant reading and studying made her bored. She used to tease me a lot when my grades were never all that spectacular. She used to say I just wasted all my time reading."

"I bet she would be surprised today if she saw the last several nationwide exams."

Ami grinned. "By the way, I wanted to say how good of you it was to offer Makoto a job. Her face just lit up, I don't think that she has ever held a real job before."

"Regardless, even if she just sits around and stares at the walls I owe her that much. Besides you're right, she did seem eager to work and pretty excited about it." Juni put an arm around her girlfriend and drew her into a half embrace while she continued driving. "I'm sure she'll be great and everything will work out just fine."

Ami happily snuggled closer into Juni's strong frame. The teacher sighed contentedly happy with life. "In the meantime my love, we have a night of studying drills. I'm sure the school you attend has hardly kept you challenged."

The younger girl was deeply touched by her teachers slipped endearment. It made her feel warm, and special. Little things like that were making her own feelings easier to accept and understand. ::I know I have not said it yet, but I think I love you too. Please just give me a little more time. When I do figure this out I will make it a special occasion for the both of us.::

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::Knock::

::Knock::

Ami looked up from a social sciences book she was studying. It was close to seven-thirty, just a few minutes until she would normally leave for school. "I'm coming!" Ami called out to her unknown guest. She wondered for a moment who in the world would be knocking on her door this early. As she walked toward the door her heart leapt as she thought for a second that it might be Juni. Ami discarded that idea though, as her girlfriend did not have the access codes to get into the apartment.

Looking into the peephole, Ami was surprised to see the tall well-built frame of Makoto. The young genius hastily unlocked her door to see what the older teen was up to. As the door was opened Makoto turned around to look at the younger girl, who was already fully dressed in her school uniform. "Hey Mizuno, you ready?"

"Ready?" Ami answered Makoto's question with one of her own. The younger girl was now fully at a loss here.

"Yeah, y'know I'm gonna be walking with ya to school in the mornings." The tall brunette leaned heavily against the wall of the outer halls. She quickly ran a hand through her thick brown hair, in an unconscious effort to keep it straightened. "Jeeze, Asagai-sensei told me that she was gonna tell… Aww shit!" Ami just watched dumbfounded as the older teen turned and proceeded to knock her head against the wall.

"Damn, It's Wednesday ain't it?" At Ami's nodded affirmation Makoto slumped further into the wall. "Y'know I told myself that I was gonna do a good job, and here I can't even get the dates right. I ain't even supposed to be here till tomorrow."

Still rather confused Ami just stared blankly at her unexpected guest. "Do you want to come in while I finish getting ready?"

"Sure, thanks." Makoto followed the younger girl into her apartment, and loitered in the foyer while the younger girl had gathered her things for school.

"Since you were going to do it anyways, can you tell me what this is all about on my way to school?" Ami called over her shoulder as she scooped up the book she was reading and tried to stuff it into her overflowing book bag. Minutes later Ami was locking her door and the two girls took the elevator leading to the bottom floor of the apartment. As they were descending a sudden question popped into the younger girls mind. "Hey, how did you get in anyway?"

"Oh, the door had a real old lock, I just picked it open." the older teen answered like it was nothing.

"Oh." It didn't really register what she had said until the girls were well on their way to the bus stop. "Wait a second, you what?"

The bus ride to the school was a lot of fun for both teens. After, Makoto explained why she was going to be walking with Ami to and from school, (Which Ami was a little annoyed by, but understood the reasons for it.) Ami got to know a bit more about the girl who was quickly becoming her friend. They spoke a bit about Makoto's unusual skill set, which included but was not limited to lock picking and pick pocketing. After which the conversation turned toward Ami's school, and what school in general was like.

After they disembarked, they still had another half-mile to go until they reached the campus. The time was spent getting to know little impersonal details about each other. Although, both girls knew it would only be a matter of time before they would be able to talk about anything. As the two departed they both reflected on how easy it was to talk and somewhat open up to the other. That was a very strange thing for both of them. It was usually hard for them to be able to talk to or trust other people. Yet while they were together, none of their normal shyness, or standoffishness was present. This only fueled the suspicion that they had known each other from somewhere before.

It was nearing lunchtime, and Ami was getting restless. Even though she was placed in all the honors classes the school's curriculum was so far behind where she was in her studies it wasn't even funny. Usually the young genius would bring a book to work on independent study, but today she had neglected to pack a second and she had already finished the social sciences book she was reading earlier that morning. Ami looked at the clock for the sixth time in fifteen minutes. She let out a long breath as she wished she were elsewhere.

The teacher, noticing his student's glazed look called on her to answer a complex problem. His intention was to catch her unaware and teach her a lesson about paying attention in class. He was more than a little surprised when she gave him the correct answer before the question was fully uttered. This just annoyed Ami, as she knew that the teacher had meant to embarrass her. It wasn't long after that her thoughts began to drift to her study sessions with Juni.

A dark blush suddenly covered her features and the teen hastened to hide her face, as thoughts of "other" sessions vividly flashed through her mind. It was then that an incredibly irresponsible idea crossed her mind. She halfheartedly attempted to talk herself out of it, but by the time the class had ended she was fully set on her goal.

As she quickly darted behind some bushes to make her way off campus unnoticed she briefly wondered how she ever got the idea, much less the guts to do this. Shrugging, she decided it really didn't matter. ::Besides:: She reasoned to herself. ::It is not like I am missing anything important.::

An hour and two busses later, Ami was standing outside Crystal Academy, wondering how the heck she was going to get Juni's attention without walking in and embarrassing her. ::What was I thinking? This was a dumb idea, even if I could get her to have lunch with me she would be mad that I skipped school.::

Ami suddenly cringed as the full extent of what she was doing hit her. ::I am sneaking out of class to make lunch for my girlfriend! Oh, what would mom say if she caught me doing this?:: The young teen groaned as she slumped against the entrance gates, cradling her lovingly prepared bentos to her chest.

"Hey Mizuno, what are you doin here?" The familiar voice coming from the other side of the gate caused the younger girl to freeze up, now completely embarrassed. "Don't you got school right now?" Ami stood up and slowly tuned to greet Makoto, who was currently struggling to unlock the gate.

After the two were on Crystal grounds Makoto once again inquired as to the reason for Ami's presence. The younger girl just mumbled something incoherent and it was obvious that she was really uncomfortable. Now, the older brunette was not a genius by any stretch of the word. As a matter of fact, the girl dropped out of school after she left with Fiore. That being the case, seeing a very shy and embarrassed looking Ami standing there clutching two bentos to her chest, even she knew what the younger girl was about.

"Hey, come on in, you can wait in the break room." Makoto lead the younger girl to a small storage room that doubled as her break room. The newly employed teen liked this little sanctuary, and would have been very surprised to know that Juni had it stocked with a table, Fridge , and microwave specifically for her. Ami took a seat at the table, her nervousness was obvious from her constant fidgeting.

"Y'know she's gonna be happy to see you, you don't need to be so nervous. Sides maybe you'll mellow her out a bit, she can be a real bit.. err a pain when she's teaching." The older brunette caught herself before she further insulted the teacher. Ami just nodded, Makoto's words obviously having no affect on her.

Getting no response from Ami the older teen just shrugged and left to find her employer. As she made her way down the halls she briefly wondered what it would be like to have someone to take care of like that. It was a secret fantasy of hers that she never shared with anyone, not even her best friend Fiore. There were reasons for that, but she wasn't ready to deal with that just yet. She sighed and shook the thoughts from her head. There was no use in fantasizing about such foolish things, after all who would want a woman like her anyway?

Juni was just finishing a lecture when two sharp knocks sounded and Makoto let herself into the room. The teacher gave her new custodian a look that was a cross between curiosity and annoyance. Garoben, who was currently in charge of Juni's body was prepared to scold the younger woman. She had given her strict instructions to not disturb her class unless it was a matter of extreme importance.

"Sorry for interrupting boss, I need to talk to you in the hall for a sec." Garoben was half tempted to make the younger woman explain in front of her class why she interrupted. Juni however made her realize that embarrassing her girlfriend's new friend like that probably wouldn't really accomplish anything. With Garoben successfully placated, she motioned for Makoto to wait in the hall while she assigned her class some work to keep them busy.

"So, Ms. Kino, what is so important that you felt the need to interrupt my class?" Garoben was giving the younger woman a look that would have cowed most anyone else. Makoto, on the other hand merely shrugged it off. She gave Juni respect because of her position as her boss, but she had lived through too much for any of the teacher's intimidation tactics to have any effect on her.

"Your girlfriend is waiting for you in the break room." Makoto spoke in a casual manner, this only served to annoy Garoben. That is until the demon had registered what the younger woman had said.

"My what?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. And Ami didn't tell me, I figured it out on my own." Makoto turned to leave, but not before seeing the near immediate change in Juni's demeanor at hearing Ami's name. The often-harsh schoolmistress had turned from cold and stern, to shy and hopeful. As she made her way back outside to finish the daily grounds cleaning, the tall brunette's thoughts drifted again to her secret wishes and desires. ::Just once, I would like to have someone care for me as much as those two obviously care for each other.::

It was with a sense of nervous excitement that Juni made her way to the break room. Upon hearing that her beloved was waiting for her she left the class with instructions to leave as they finished their assignments. She was being irresponsible she knew, and Garoben was almost against putting their girlfriend over their work.. Almost.

The lunch was an extremely enjoyable affair for the couple. After the brief scolding for skipping class Juni melted at the sight of Ami's guilty pout. They moved from the break room to Juni's office where the older woman locked the door so they would not be observed. The next hour was spent in happy conversation, and feeding each other the finger sandwiches that Ami had prepared for their lunch.

When Juni could no longer miss any more class the two hesitantly parted. Juni requested that Ami have Makoto take her home, to which the younger girl protested. Juni won out in the end however, asking her girlfriend to do it for her sake, and peace of mind. As Ami was preparing to leave she impulsively leaned into the older woman and bestowed her with a parting kiss that made them both week in the knees.

Juni remained sitting at her desk for another ten minutes after the younger girl had departed. A goofy grin stayed plastered on her face and her fingers brushed against her lips as the sensation of the departing kiss still lingered. ::My Gods where did my Ami learn to kiss like that.:: She did not know if it had been the young genius's skill or just the emotion involved, but either way she went through the rest of her day with a blush on her cheeks and a smile on her face.

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