SPIN THE BOTTLE By Princess Destiny [princessdestiny@hotmail.com] Chapter Eight There was a dead silence in the room, punctuated only by erratic breathing. They all stared at each other, stunned by the evening's revelations. "I should have KNOWN it" Rei murmured, touching a finger to her pounding forehead. Not only had she gotten a rotten headache from crying, now there was the stress of knowing that her 'boyfriend' was their 'ally'. ["Or is he? I went out with him-sort of...and he protects Sailor Moon, but HATES Usagi..."] her thoughts trailed off as her purple eyes slid swiftly over her leader and the cloaked hero. Sailor Moon was held so tightly against Tuxedo Kamen's side that Rei doubted a ruler could have been inserted between them. So something HAD happened in the closet-and she had a feeling that it had been much more than just screaming and involuntary transformations. "So-you're the one who constantly rescues Sailor Moon, but can't stop fighting WITH her?" Ami commented blithly. They blinked at her and then all eyes went back to Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon. "Wow" Makoto said finally, green eyes wide with astonishment. "So-" she went on, smiling slightly at Tuxedo Kamen. "How long have you been the caped crusader, Mamoru?" "Makoto!" Sailor Moon groaned. The tension in the room dropped greatly as the girls all giggled and Tuxedo Kamen smiled slightly. His fingers were digging into her waist, however, belaying his curved lips. He was still tense-ready for action. She looked up at him hesitantly, trying to see his eyes through the half-mask. "Mamoru? Are you alright?" she whispered into his ear, leaning closer. He nodded slightly, then sighed and released her completely. He had forgotten for a minute, just who Sailor Moon was. And what her friend shouldn't know. "I'm fine" he said loudly, stepping a pace away from her warmth. It would not be good for them to be found out by the girls. If they found that he'd kissed Usagi senseless-well, they might beat him to a bloody pulp! After all, he was Tuxedo Kamen and they had no idea-STILL-if he was a friend or an enemy. ["And are they ally's?"] he wondered silently. This had changed everything. The girl he loved was the girl he hated. And the Senshi that he had not learnt to trust- turned out to be friends. Good friends of his and Motoki. He'd even dated one of them and never had a clue. "Now what, guys? You hustled Steve out of here so fast that everyone out there is probably wondering what happened" Ami said, breaking the long silence. Sailor Moon continued to stare up at Tuxedo Kamen, strangely hurt. It seemed that once he had assessed the situation and deemed it safe for her, he had abandoned her entirely. He was once again, the cold hero who she didn't know but had secretly fallen for. "I don't know" She murmured to them all, turning her face away to hide the tears. She stiffened as someone wrapped arms around her tightly and then realised that it was Rei. "Are you alright, Usagi? Did he-hurt you?" Rei whispered, drawing her slightly away from the others. Sailor Moon almost shouted at the priestess, but then realised that Rei was asking something else. "He hurt me" she agreed quietly, leaning into the girl's warmth. "As he always does. But now it worse, because I know it's Mamoru" Rei understood completely. After all, she had dated Mamoru and loved him more than a little. And now, poor Usagi. Rei KNEW and had for a while, that their leader had a thing for Tuxedo Kamen. ["I WISH I knew what went on in that closet!"] she thought angrily, turning her eyes towards the silent Tuxedo Kamen. The expression in his eyes chilled her. Protectiveness, rage, shock, resignation. He was like a caged animal. "I have an idea. Why don't we pretend that Usagi is claustrophobic and she got sick on the closet floor when she was locked in too long?" Makoto said abruptly. They all looked at her, eyes wide. Sailor Moon flushed. "Me? Sick on the floor. Makoto! I'll be so embarrassed?" she wailed, mortified. "Would you prefer us to say that I opened the closet door to find Sailor Moon wrapped up in an embrace with Tuxedo Kamen?" Rei said calmly, releasing the now-silver-haired girl. "However, I don't know what to do about your hair" "Fear?" Ami suggested. "Sometimes people's hair has been known to change to white when in highly stressful situations" Sailor Moon flushed again and looked at the floor. ["Stressful-right"] ["NOT stressful. Stimulated-yes"] Tuxedo Kamen thought, groaning mentally. It was like physical pain, not being able to wrap his arms about her. But not with her friends there-and maybe not ever again, now that they knew. Sailor Moon, he protected as Tuxedo Kamen-but he wasn't exactly their ally. They were all after the Rainbow Crystals. And he had his Princess to think of. "It's a good idea. Mercury" he said politely, at the same time letting Ami know that he was aware of the girl's Senshi identities. "You'll have to de-transform" Ami said pointedly, nodding slightly at Tuxedo Kamen. She noted the tension in the air about sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen and wondered at it. She knew that her leader had a major crush on the cloaked stranger, but the air between the two seemed frankly strained. Wary. Explosive. Sailor Moon sighed and put a hand to her broach, willing a de- transformation. The ribbons exploded about her and then moments later, she was dressed as Usagi. She looked at Tuxedo Kamen, who was standing there frozen, mouth slightly open. And his eyes-were shocked. ["What?!"] she wondered, looking down at herself. Sure, her clothes were a little rumpled and her hair was still silver...wait CLOTHES! Usagi's eyes darkened angrily, eyes locking on his pole-axed ones. ["Mamoru-hentai!"] she growled furiously, hands curling into tight fists. Tuxedo Kamen had watched curiously as Sailor Moon de-transformed, waiting to see how it was done. What he HADN'T expected-was for her to be stark naked during the process. As he saw her nude form briefly beneath the red ribbons, his mind went into overload and he couldn't help his eyes glazing over numbly. ["Oh my GOD! She IS trying to give me a coronary! Does she have any IDEA what that DID to me?!"] he practically screamed mentally. Tuxedo Kamen focused his thoughts quickly and blinked. As his vision cleared, he was abruptly aware of a kind of WAVE of outrage and fury directed at him. His eyes locked on those of Usagi's and she was ENRAGED! [And then there was a sort of-hollow rushing sound and a sense of her presence bombarding him. "Mamoru-hentai!"] her voice shrieked at him, seeming to come from everywhere at one. He gaped at her. ["Hentai?"] he said falteringly in his mind, eyes shocked. "That's what I SAID! You CREEP!" she shouted at him out loud, then her eyes popped wide in disbelief, mouth gaping. "Said what, Usagi?" Ami said curiously, fingers tight about her Mercury computer. Usagi had just burst out like that from the blue, both her and Tuxedo Kamen looking shocked beyond words. Pole-axed. "You guys are fighting AGAIN?" Makoto groaned, not noticing that Tuxedo Kamen had said nothing to provoke Usagi's wrath. "He's not even de- transformed yet!" Rei's mouth was gaping too as she felt the waves of shock and more coming from Usagi and Tuxedo Kamen. Something HUGE had just happened and they'd all missed it. "What is it?" she asked the two suspiciously. ["Arrggggh! She's going to find out I kissed Mamoru! Several times!"] Usagi thought in panic, bitting her bottom lip savagely. ["NOT if you don't look so bloody guilty!"] Mamoru's voice said acidly into her mind, making sure she was aware of his displeasure. ["And while you're at it-stop wailing into my head, you Odango Atama!"] he practically roared at her. Usagi winced, reaching up with both hands to clutch at her head. She blinked and then glared evilly over at the cloaked hero, murder in her eyes. ["WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT CALLING ME THAT!?"] she bellowed mentally, as loud as she could manage. Tuxedo Kamen groaned and reeled back, clutching at his head with both gloved hands. ["YOU brat! Keep it down!"] he shouted at her, abruptly de-transforming. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought that their sudden mental link might have had something to do with their transformations. When he was Mamoru again, he looked at the silver- haired girl expectantly. She glared at him hatefully as he de-transformed, gleefully happy that he too had an awful headache from her shouting inside his head. Usagi opened her mouth to blast him, then glanced at her friends, who were looking from Mamoru, to Usagi with interest and confusion. "Are we missing something here?" Makoto questioned with interest. "You two are getting the WEIRDEST expressions on your faces-" "Pained" Ami said calmly, looking at Usagi and Mamoru, who both looked suddenly guilty, afraid and angry. Usagi gave Mamoru a sideways glance. ["This is your fault, say something!"] she screeched at him. There was no response. Her blue eyes opened wide with surprise. Mamoru saw Usagi's eyes narrowed at him as she obviously said something mentally. he winced and waited-but nothing happened. He gave her an equal look of surprise, then shrugged. ["It must have been a fluke"] he thought. In some way, he was disappointed-in another, he was very glad. Linked to the girl he hated-who was also the girl he thought that he had loved-would have been a disaster. Mamoru sighed. ["Do I love her anymore? Now that I know that Sailor Moon is Usagi? I don't think my hate can turn that fast and I'm sure it wouldn't for her"] he thought, staring hard at Usagi. She stared back, then sighed and turned away, shoulders bowed. For a moment, something wonderful-yet frightening had happened to them both. A mind link. But how did she feel about it now that it was gone? He was Mamoru, but he was Tuxedo Kamen too, then man she thought that she loved. Of course, it had changed now. She didn't know if she could love a man she hated! ["This is all a big mess!"] Usagi groaned mentally, absently listening to the music thumping through the apartment. Then, someone knocked furiously at the door to the bedroom, making them all jump in shock. "Open up in there! What's going on?" Steve bellowed through the wood furiously. He banged again, shaking the door in the frame. "Go away!" Makoto bellowed back, racing to the door to set her back against it. Usagi gasped and grabbed handfuls of her long silver hair in concern and fright. "Guys! My HAIR!" she wailed at them. "Keep calm, Usagi!" Rei snapped, eyes hunting around the room. "BUT-" Usagi went on, getting more and more panicked by the second. She'd kissed Mamoru, her hair had turned silver, he was Tuxedo Kamen- the evening was too much to bear! "Keep calm, Odango Atama" Mamoru said coolly. She gaped, turning to look at him. ["What did he say?!"] she thought incredulously, eyes filling with hurt and disbelief. ["He called me Odango Atama"] Mamoru deliberately kept his eyes cold as he stared back at her. ["It's safer this way-for both of us"] he thought silently, crossing his arms. He kept an indifferent look on his face as he felt her eyes move over every inch on it, as is memorizing the features. And her eyes were-sad. Usagi's lips moved with difficulty and when she finally spoke, her voice was rusty-sounding, as if she hadn't used it in years. "Don't call me that, Idiot" "Are you okay, Usagi?" Rei said slowly, glaring at Mamoru. She knew what he was doing-and hated him for hurting her friend in this way. He was deliberately forcing a wedge between the two of them. To keep Usagi AND Sailor Moon at a distance. It was different to yell at Usagi in the day as Mamoru, then rescue Sailor Moon as Tuxedo Kamen and then go off into the night alone and unknown-but now....The priestess sighed deeply. "I'm-fine" Usagi said, lips curving into the semblance of a smile. But inside, she was hurting. If Mamoru wanted things that way-then he would get it...and some. Anger filled her chest and she glared over at the upper-classman. "Work this out, jerk! Get me out of here before they see my hair!" she yelled at him furiously. For a moment, blank surprise filled Mamoru's being. Then he frowned darkly at the girl who so threw his world into chaos. She was playing along and that was good-but he WASN'T happy that she had complied so quickly! Then, his dark blue eyes narrowed. He quickly strode past all the girls and pulled a thick blanket from his bed. "What are you doing, Mamoru?" Rei demanded as she watched the dark- haired guy turn away from the bed and advance on Usagi, intent in his eyes and blanket held wide open. Usagi's heart fluttered nervously at the reckless look in Mamoru's eyes/ ["What is he going to do with that?"] she yelped, stumbling backwards. "Mamoru?" Makoto shouted from the door, arms clinging to the frame in order to keep Steve out. She couldn't believe that he was STILL pounding on the door and throwing his weight on it to get in. "Give it a rest, you jerk!" she shouted through the crack in the door. "Let me in! What's going on in there?" Steve shouted back, sounding more than a little drunk. "Makoto? Is everything okay?" Motoki called through now, sounding concerned. Rei abandoned Usagi, striding towards the door. "Everything is fine, Motoki! Usagi got sick from being locked in the closet for too long!" She yelled urgently. "She's sick?" Reika shouted with worry. "Can I help?" "No, no! We're just cleaning her up-" Rei began to shout back, but then she head a scuffle behind her and spun around to see Usagi wrestling with a determined Mamoru. He seemed to want to smother her in a blanket! "Get AWAY from me, you creep! What are you trying to do? KILL me?" Usagi shouted into Mamoru's face, hands firmly holding onto two sides of the large blanket in a death grip. Mamoru seemed to be determined to throw it onto her, his blue eyes glittering with anger and exasperation. "No, you Odango Atama! I'm trying to wrap you in it so that they won't see your hair!" he shouted back into her face, lips centimetres apart. She blinked up at him, only the blanket between them keeping her from tumbling into his arms. He had a similar hold on the same side of the blanket as she did, hands slight above hers on the material. The two stared at each other for a long moment, both stubbornly glaring into each other's eyes. "Usagi? Let him muffle you! I can't hold Steve and the others back for long" Makoto said, groaning cheerfully. Actually, she was totally amused with the situation. If someone had said that she'd EVER see Chiba Mamoru locked in a closet with Tsukino Usagi-she would have laughed in their face. But she HAD seen it and both of them had walked out without killing the other-and NOW-Mamoru was trying to bundle up Usagi like a mummy! ["Unbelievable"] she rolled her eyes skyward. "It won't kill you" Rei added, grinning widely at her friend. Her eyes skidded from Usagi to Mamoru, noting the tension between the two. ["I wonder what DID happen in that closet before they transformed?"] she thought curiously. And did she really want to know? After all, she loved Mamoru-on some level. But she loved Usagi too. "No way! How come you're on HIS side, guys?" Usagi shouted at them all, taking her eyes from Mamoru's for a split-second to glare around. Mamoru's eyes narrowed and then he wrenched the blanket from Usagi's slender hands and deftly wrapped it about her form before she could even blink. "Got you" he murmured, bending to pick her up into his arms. An outraged girl stared up into his face, eyes wide. She really was TOO adorable! ["And kissable-remember Chiba! Her friends are here!"] he shouted at himself mentally, arms tightening about Usagi. He sighed and pulled a piece of blanket over her face and hair. "I can hardly brief, you creep!" Usagi said, voice muffled. Actually, it was wonderful being held so tightly in his arms again. And now that she knew-she could recognise Tuxedo Kamen's familiar sense. Like-a force-field around her. Protective. Possessive. She flushed, burrowing closer to his chest and waiting. ["Noooooo kisses, Usagi! Stop thinking about his kisses and muscled chest and strong arms-"] "Here we go" Mamoru murmured to the bundle, watching as Makoto opened the door cautiously. Immediately, several people flooded into the room. Michael, Steve, a few girls, Reika and Motoki. "IS that Usagi?" Motoki questioned pointing to the bundle in Mamoru's arms. "Are you okay, Hon?" Reika said, walking over to Mamoru. She was VERY startled when the guy she had known for years-and was her boyfriend's best buddy-stiffened at her approach and clutched the blankets closer protectively. Her eyes went wide. She looked around, but no one else had seen the move. "I'm fine, Reika" Usagi's voice came from the bundle of blanket in Mamoru's arms, sounding muffled. "Can she breath in there? Why is her face covered?" Motoki noted, peering curiously. Reika started to reach out to move the blankets so that Usagi's' could breath, but Mamoru jerked backwards swiftly, eyes turning into ice. "She's fine" he growled, muscles bunching under his shirt. Everyone's mouths fell open at the clearly protective move-of a man who had professed to HATE the girl in his arms. "She's cold. She threw up" Ami supplied swiftly, stepping towards Mamoru. She gave him a warning look. "She needs the blankets as tightly around her as possible" "I didn't know she was claustrophobic!" Steve protested, throwing his hands up. He gave them all a suspicious look. "So how come she didn't say anything the FIRST time and then-she played again!" "She was only five minutes the first time" Makoto snapped, rounding on Steve. "But you kept her in there for 40 MINUTES" "It was 40?" Mamoru said under his breath, eyes going slightly wider. He shifted his grip slightly, bringing the bundle closer. He didn't know WHY, but with all those people in the room, he felt OVERWHELMINGLY protective of Usagi. So much so, that he was ready to fight. And he couldn't say WHY. Usagi kept silent, listening as everyone talked and argued. She sighed as Mamoru brought her closer, closing her eyes and resting her head on his chest. She didn't know why, but she felt totally protected in his arms. So much, that she totally ignored everything around her and merely waited for Mamoru to take her out of the apartment. "I want to leave" she whispered from a crack in the blankets into Mamoru's right ear. "I can hardly breath in here, Mamoru" His eyes darkened. He raised his head and stared coolly around at everyone, then unceremoniously strode past them all and out into the party without a word. "Mamoru. Wait!" Rei yelled, running after him. "Where is he going?" Motoki said curiously, trailing behind the others. He watched as Mamoru shouldered his way past everyone, who was staring and down the main hall to the door. His friend practically MOWED DOWN anyone who go in the way, holding the bundle of blankets to him like it was the most precious item in the world. ["Well now"] he smiled. ["So HE is who Usagi's look was for. I wondered who could possibly make her seethe with so many emotions. I should have known"] he walked along with Makoto, Ami and Reika as they followed Mamoru out the front door and slammed it behind them. ["Who else but Mamoru can EVER make her feel so much?"] "I'm taking her home" Mamoru said curtly, leaning down slightly to push the 'down' button for the lift. The girls gathered around him with Reika and Motoki and merely waited in silence for the lift doors to open. Then, they all piled in. Reika watched with a large smile-barely hidden-as Mamoru settled into the far corner of the lift, leaning against the wall and holding his bundle close. An slender arm shot out of the blankets as the lift began to move down, grabbing at Mamoru's shirt in panic. She watched as Mamoru bent his head slightly and murmured something to Usagi soothingly. ["Will wonders never cease? I think he actually CARES for Usagi"] Usagi couldn't help but panic as the world around her began moving down. Her arms shot out of the blankets to grab Mamoru's shirt in a death-grip. "What's going on?" she said, frightened. With her head covered and the strange falling sensation, it was all she could do to keep from screaming-but for the fact that Mamoru's arms were tightly about her. "It's alright. Just the lift, Usagi. We're taking you home" Mamoru murmured from above her head, voice soothing. She sighed and relaxed her grip, but didn't let go. A moment later, the floor stopped moving and came to a stop. She heard the others walking away and then Mamoru was moving fast. Then, a cool breeze flapped at the blankets and she felt it brush her face caressingly. ["We're outside"] she waited, but it seemed that Motoki and Reika were not leaving-so she had to contend with just laying there and letting Mamoru carry her. Not that she didn't LIKE it. Usagi smiled and closed her eyes again, snuggling closer into his embrace and keeping a firm hold of his shirt with her fingers. Gradually, the up and down movement of his pace lulled her into sleep. Mamoru smiled gently as he felt Usagi snuggle into him and then sensed that she had fallen asleep. He looked down and saw that her fingers were still keeping a grip on his shirt as of she would never let go. A strange expression crossed his features in the darkness of the night- one that would have had Usagi's friends and Motoki and Reika gaping in shock. However, they saw nothing-talking amongst themselves-and though the expression lingered for many blocks, it was firmly hidden by the time they reached Usagi's house.