Chapter 8

	When Akira arrived at the lab the Monday following the 
conference, he was none too surprised to discover Dr. Nakajima waiting 
for him with a file folder in hand, though he knew the file was only an 
excuse to see him. Without a word, he took the offered folder, set it 
on his desk, then headed to the closet to change into his lab coat.

	“I take it you’re still angry with me for suggesting you cool 
things off with Mizuno-san,” Dr. Nakajima said, sighing. “Akira-kun, 
you must understand I only have your best interests at heart. I don’t 
want to see either one of your careers ruined by this little…
dalliance.”

	“As long as you don’t say anything, they won’t be,” Akira 
reminded him as he sat down at his desk and flipped through the file, 
which only contained a few photocopied articles he had already read. 
“You don’t intend to go back on your word, do you?” 

	The older man shook his head. “I promised I would keep your 
secret, but I must reiterate that I still think it best if you and 
Mizuno-san stopped seeing each other, at least for a little while.”

	“That’s not going to happen, Nakajima-sensei. Ami is the best 
thing that has happened to me in a long time, and I’m not about to let 
her go.”

	“Even if it means risking your job at this university?”

	Before Akira had the chance to answer, the door swung open and 
the subject of their current conversation walked in, blushing when she 
saw Dr. Nakajima. “N-Nakajima-sensei -- Um, konnichiwa,” Ami stuttered, 
obviously unnerved by his presence, given what he knew.

	Dr. Nakajima, however, merely greeted her with his usual nod of 
acknowledgement as if nothing had changed. “Konnichiwa, Mizuno-san.”

	Standing from behind his desk, Akira handed the file back to 
his mentor. “Nakajima-sensei was just leaving,” he announced, giving 
the other professor no room for argument. “Ami, why don’t you begin 
setting up today’s experiment while I show him out? The procedure‘s in 
its usual place.”

	“H-Hai!”

	Leaving Ami to the preparations, Akira and Dr. Nakajima headed 
out into the hallway, where Akira closed the door behind him, not 
wanting Ami to overhear their conversation. He then turned to face his 
former professor, his voice low as he said, “Look, Nakajima-sensei, 
while I do appreciate your concern, no matter what you say, I plan to 
continue seeing her. We both are aware of the risks, but they are risks 
we are willing to take to stay together, and I hope we can rely on you 
to keep this quiet.”

	“You know you can, but, Akira-kun --”

	“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

	With that, Akira headed back inside, letting out a sigh as he 
rejoined Ami in the labs. She had already set up for most of that day’s 
experiment, but she set down the flask she had been filling with a 
chemical when he came in, a worried look on her face.

	“Akira, did something happen?” she asked, walking over to him. 
“I noticed the atmosphere seemed a bit heavy when I arrived. Nakajima-
sensei didn’t change his mind about not going to the dean about us, did 
he?”

	“No, nothing like that. We can trust him with our secret,” he 
assured her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. “He’s…just 
concerned, that’s all.”

	“Are you sure that’s it?”

	“Let’s get to work.”

*****

	The next day, Ami was on her way to Akira’s lab when she heard 
someone call her name. Turning in the direction of the voice, she saw 
Dr. Nakajima coming toward her, his pudgy face lightly flushed as if he 
had been running. Though she was tempted to duck into the nearby 
restroom and pretend she hadn’t noticed him, Ami knew Dr. Nakajima 
would realize she was avoiding him, so she stayed where she was, taking 
a few deep breaths to calm her jitters.

	“Ah, Mizuno-san, I’m glad I caught you,” he said breathlessly 
when he finally caught up to her. “Would you mind coming to my lab for 
a few minutes? There‘s something I would like to discuss with you.”

	“A-Aki -- I mean, Kitagawa-sensei is expecting me, sir,” Ami 
said, confused by the summons. Dr. Nakajima had never asked to see her 
alone before.

	“I won’t keep you long. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

	Ami looked down at her watch to check the time. She still had 
about twenty minutes to go before she was supposed to be in the lab, 
but she had hoped to get there early so she and Akira could have some 
extra time together. They wouldn’t be able to see each other after the 
session because Akira wanted to catch up on some grading and she had a 
paper to work on for her world history class. Still, whatever Dr. 
Nakajima wanted to talk about seemed urgent, so Ami nodded. “Okay, I 
suppose I can spare a few minutes.”

	Ami followed the genetics professor to his lab next door to 
Akira’s and took a seat at one of the cleared-off tables at his urging. 
Again, she wondered why Dr. Nakajima wanted to speak with her, although 
she thought she might have a good idea. Her suspicions were confirmed 
when the professor took the seat beside her and, after a brief pause, 
said, “Mizuno-san, I understand that you and Kitagawa-sensei are a bit 
of an item, so to speak.”

	That was the first time he had acknowledged he knew of their 
relationship in front of her, and Ami shifted uncomfortably on her 
stool, embarrassed. During the times they had worked together, she had 
grown to respect Dr. Nakajima immensely, and she could only imagine 
what he thought of her now that he knew she was sleeping with Akira.

	“You could say that…” 

	“Don’t get the wrong idea,” the professor said, his face 
softening a bit as if he sensed her unease. “I didn’t ask you here in 
order to scold or lecture you about your relationship. Believe me, I’m 
the last person who has the right to condemn you for your affair.”

	Though Ami wanted to ask why that was, remembering Akira had 
said something along the same lines when he told her that Dr. Nakajima 
had his own reasons for keeping their secret, she didn’t feel 
comfortable prying into his personal life. Instead, she asked, “Then 
why did you wish to speak to me?”

	“You’re a smart girl, Mizuno-san. You’re at the top of your 
class, and, from what I’ve seen and heard from Akira-kun, you have a 
brilliant career as a doctor ahead of you. That’s why I would hate to 
see something happen to jeopardize that future.”

	“Akira said we could trust you to keep our secret,” Ami said, 
unable to keep a trace of accusation out of her voice.

	“You can,” he assured her, much to her relief. For a moment, 
she thought he might have changed his mind. “I have no plans to ever 
betray that trust,” he continued, “but what happens if somebody else 
discovers your relationship? Someone who isn’t quite as understanding 
as I am?”

	Ami looked down at the folded hands on her lap, unsure of how 
to answer his inquiry, even though the question had been on the 
forefront of her mind ever since Akira told her that Dr. Nakajima knew 
about them. “We’ll be more careful. Nobody else will find out about 
Akira and me.”

	“How can you make such a claim with absolute certainty?”

	“I suppose I can’t,” she sighed, “but what else can we do but 
try harder not to get caught?”

	“You could take a break from each other,” he suggested, holding 
up a hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “Please hear me out, 
Mizuno-san. I’m not saying that you two should break up permanently, 
but you’re a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. In fact, I 
suspect this is your first serious romantic relationship, is it not?”  

	Ami nodded, feeling her cheeks warm.

	“I thought so,” he said. “So, why don’t you take this time and 
play the field a little? See what else is out there?”

	“I’m not interested in anybody else,” Ami declared. “I only 
want to be with Akira.”

	“If that is true, the two of you will surely find your way back 
to each other at a more appropriate time, but, until then, what’s the 
harm in getting a little more experience under your belt before you 
make any big commitments?” Dr. Nakajima asked. “After all, Akira-kun is 
eight years older than you, and he’s had his fair share of girlfriends 
over the years. He was even engaged once, as I’m sure you are aware. 
You two are at different stages in your lives right now, and, while 
that doesn’t necessarily mean things won’t work out between you two, I 
think it would be beneficial for you to try to bridge that gap in your 
experience level.”

	The logical part of her brain, as much as she didn’t want to 
admit it, agreed with him. It probably would be a good idea to cool 
things off with Akira and “play the field,” as Dr. Nakajima had put it, 
though Ami had a hard time envisioning herself going out with a 
different guy every night, but her heart -- her heart just wouldn’t 
listen to reason. She had meant what she said. She only wanted to be 
with Professor Kitagawa Akira.

	“Nakajima-sensei, thank you for your concern, but I really 
should be leaving,” she said, standing from her stool and bowing 
respectfully. “Akira is probably wondering where I am.”

	“I take it that means you won’t listen to me, either,” Dr. 
Nakajima said with a sigh and a chuckle as he walked her to the door. 
“Well, nobody can say I didn’t at least try to knock some sense into 
you two. Just do me a favor, Mizuno-san?”

	“Yes?”   

	“Be careful.”

*****

	“So, he talked to you too?”

	After Ami had finished telling Akira why she was late for their 
lab session, he rolled his eyes. He should have known that when Dr. 
Nakajima failed to make any headway with him, he would move on to Ami 
in his quest to break them up. The man was relentless, even if his 
intentions were good at heart.

	“He was perfectly nice about it,” Ami said, washing her hands 
at the sink. “I think it’s rather sweet of him to be concerned, and you 
have to admit he does make some good points.”

	“Are you saying he got to you?” Akira asked, his eyes widening 
slightly. “Ami, when I asked you if you wanted to continue this, you 
said you thought it was worth any risk.”

	“And I still do,” she assured him, walking over to the closet 
to change into her lab coat. “Nakajima-sensei is right, though. We can 
say we’ll be more careful in the future, but what if somebody else 
finds out about us who isn’t as willing to keep our secret as Nakajima
-sensei? Like Yokoyama-san and her boyfriend?” 

	“Well, we could always start checking into love hotels if 
you’re that worried about them catching us at my apartment.”

	He had made the suggestion jokingly, but that didn’t stop Ami 
from blushing brightly at the thought. “Be serious, Akira! This is 
important. What are we going to do to protect ourselves from future 
discovery? You‘ve been avoiding the subject ever since you returned 
from Kyoto, but we need to come up with a plan.”

	“You’re right. Gomen.”

	Akira followed Ami into the lab proper and considered her 
question as he helped her set up the day’s experiment. She was right. 
They did have to be more careful from then on. He didn’t even want to 
think what would happen if somebody else found out about their affair, 
but there wasn’t much they could do to guarantee that wouldn’t happen 
except for not seeing each other outside of class and lab sessions, and 
that was definitely not an option.

	“Maybe it would be best if you started leaving a little earlier 
in the mornings,” he suggested, thinking aloud. “That way, you probably 
won’t have to worry about running into Matsuno-kun or Yokoyama-san on 
your way out.”

	“I can do that,” she agreed with a nod. “I’ll also keep 
disguising myself whenever I come over. My hair is short enough that I 
can easily hide it under a hat, and that tends to be my most 
distinguishing feature. It might even be a good idea to buy a wig or 
two.”

	“I always did think you’d make a sexy redhead.”

	Akira expected another scolding for not being serious, but his 
lover simply smiled and said, “That can be arranged.”	

	They spouted out a few more suggestions as to how to keep their 
relationship secret -- including using fake names whenever one of them 
called while the other was with somebody else, so they wouldn’t have a 
repeat of what happened at the conference -- and, by the time they had 
finished setting up for the day’s experiment, Akira had to admit he 
felt a lot better about the whole thing. As long as they stuck to the 
plan, nobody else would find out about their affair.

	We may just be able to pull this off after all, he thought to 
himself. 

*****

	On her way home from the lab later that evening, Ami stopped at 
a beauty supply store and bought a couple of wigs to serve as 
disguises. Luckily, the store’s bag was rather plain-looking, so Makoto 
didn’t ask many questions when she arrived back at the apartment, bag 
in hand. She easily bought Ami’s lie that she had gone to a new 
bookstore to pick up some books for her research paper, and, much to 
Ami‘s relief, didn‘t ask to see her new purchases.

	Once Ami was safely in her room, having told Makoto she needed 
to get to work on her paper, she sat down at her desk, though she 
didn’t pull out any books like she usually did. Instead, she situated a 
small mirror in front of her on the desk and began molding her natural 
hair to her head with bobby pins as the lady at the shop had told her 
to do. She then pulled one of the wigs -- a red one, as Akira had 
suggested -- out of the bag and placed it on the top of her head.

	The wig she had chosen fell past her shoulders in soft curls, 
providing a dramatic change from the short, no-nonsense style Ami had 
worn ever since elementary school. When she looked at her reflection in 
the mirror, Ami barely even recognized herself. She truly looked like a 
completely different person.

	“Amazing,” she murmured to herself before taking that one off 
and trying on the next.

	The second wig was a short platinum bob, and, again, the change 
in her appearance was striking, though not as much as the final wig of 
shoulder-length teal waves. Ami giggled when she saw herself wearing 
it, thinking she almost looked like Michiru’s twin, or, at the very 
least, a younger sister. She wondered what Haruka and the others would 
think if she ever showed up at a full-team senshi gathering wearing it, 
but that thought was cut short when she heard a knock at bedroom door, 
startling her.

	“Sorry for interrupting your studies, Ami-chan,” Makoto 
apologized from outside the room, “but I thought you might be hungry. I 
made you some sandwiches for dinner. Can I come in?”

	Ami yanked the teal wig off her head, stuffed it back in the 
store bag, and frantically started pulling the bobby pins out of her 
hair. “In a minute,” she called out, quickening her pace. Oh, why had 
she used so many bobby pins? “I need to straighten up in here.”

	Makoto laughed. “Come on. I’m not going to lecture you if your 
room is a mess. I‘m not your mother.”

	“I’m almost finished…”

	Finally, Ami managed to find the last pin, taking it out and 
brushing her hair back into some semblance of order. After she put away 
the mirror and pulled out a couple of random books to make it look as 
if she had been working on her paper, she went over to the door and let 
Makoto in.

	“Wow, if you managed to get your room this clean in that short 
amount of time, maybe I should let you take over the house-cleaning,” 
her roommate said with a chuckle, looking around the perfectly neat and 
orderly room as she stepped in.

	Ami blushed, feeling awful for lying to Makoto yet again. Ever 
since she started to see Akira, it seemed as if she told her roommate 
more lies and fibs than she did the truth. “And deprive you of one of 
your favorite pastimes? I couldn‘t.”

	“That’s true; I do love to clean,” Makoto remarked, handing Ami 
a plate of sandwiches. “Here, I didn’t know what you wanted, so I made 
you one BLT and one bologna and cheese. I hope that’s okay.”

	“Thanks.”

	“So, how’s the paper coming along?”

	“It’s…coming.” At least that wasn’t a total lie. She had 
already done most of the research and made an outline beforehand. All 
that was left was to put hand to keyboard, and Ami didn’t expect that 
to take long thanks to her tendency to plan to the littlest detail.

	“What’s the subject?”

	“Oh, you wouldn’t be interested, Mako-chan,” Ami said waving 
her free hand in front of her as she stepped between the brunette and 
her desk, hiding her computer desktop from view in case Makoto noticed 
that there weren’t any files open. “It’s on the American Revolution.”

	It could have been her imagination, but Ami thought she saw a 
bit of suspicion flash in Makoto’s eyes, though the look passed as 
quickly as it appeared. “You’re right, that doesn’t sound very 
interesting,” Makoto admitted. “Well, I suppose I should let you get 
back to work on that. Try not to stay up too late.”

	“I won’t. Thanks again for the sandwiches. Goodnight.”

	After Makoto left, Ami plopped down in her desk chair, feeling 
as if she had just finished running a marathon. Thank goodness Makoto 
wasn’t the type to want to read academic papers, or else she would have 
had a lot of explaining to do. With a sigh of relief, she opened a new 
blank document, pulled out her notes, and finally got to work.

*****

	“Where is it?!”

	It wasn’t often that Makoto got the chance to witness her 
normally calm and organized roommate nearly reduced to hysterics, but 
that was exactly what she saw when she came out of the kitchen that 
Thursday afternoon upon hearing Ami’s frantic cry coming from the 
living room. The blue-haired genius, who had already switched out of 
her usual slippers into a pair of sensible black flats in preparation 
to leave, was sitting on the couch, digging like a gopher through her 
purse, and muttering to herself.

	“Ami-chan, what’s going on?” Makoto asked, wiping her hands, 
still wet and soapy from doing the dishes, on her floral-print apron. 
“What are you looking for?”

	“My lab I.D. card!” she answered, not even bothering to glance 
up. “Oh, I can’t believe I lost it! Where could it be?”

	“When was the last time you used it? Yesterday?”

	“Yes, and I know I put it back in here. I need that card, Mako
-chan! I can‘t get in without it.”

	“Then it’s probably still in there,” Makoto said, faintly 
amused by Ami’s antics despite her friend’s obvious distress over the 
missing card. She expected that kind of behavior from Usagi or Minako, 
but never from Ami, who was even more of a neat freak than she was. It 
almost made her wonder if she had somehow been transported to an 
alternate universe or something. “Calm down for a second and dump 
everything out of your purse. It’ll be easier to look for it that way, 
instead of digging around in that thing.”

	“Good idea!”

	As Makoto walked over and kneeled down on the floor to help, 
Ami turned her bag upside-down and spilled the contents onto the coffee 
table. They both started going through her things until Makoto managed 
to find a laminated card sticking halfway out of her wallet. 

	“Is this it?” she asked, holding up the photo I.D.

	Relieved, Ami sighed. “Yes, it is,” she said, taking the card 
and attaching it to her shirt with the clip provided. “Thank goodness. 
You’re a godsend, Mako-chan!”

	Makoto waved off the compliment. If she hadn’t found it, she 
was sure Ami would have noticed it eventually. “It was nothing,” she 
insisted, putting the wallet back in Ami’s purse. “Here, let me help 
you gather everything up.” 

	Grabbing a couple of more things, Makoto was about to dump them 
in the bag when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something 
unusual sitting on the corner of the table. At first glance, it 
appeared to be nothing more than a regular powder compact, a staple in 
many women’s purses, including hers. However, Makoto never knew Ami to 
carry one, and in fact, rarely saw her friend wear make-up at all. 
Setting down the things she had gathered, Makoto reached for the white 
case and barely managed to hold back a surprised gasp as she picked it 
up.

	Though she knew exactly what it was upon closer inspection, 
Makoto still couldn‘t resist asking, “What’s this?” 

	In response, Ami paled significantly, her dark blue eyes 
widening as she stared at the incriminating compact in Makoto’s hand. 
“They’re…uh…birth control pills,” she answered softly.

	Even hearing the words aloud, straight from Ami’s mouth, Makoto 
still had trouble believing it was true. Why on Earth would innocent, 
virginal Ami, the girl who couldn’t even receive a love letter without 
breaking out into a rash, be carrying around a case of birth control 
pills? Maybe she really had been sent to an alternate universe after 
all.

	“But why?” she asked as Ami finally took the case from her and 
placed it back in the purse. “Are they yours?”

	Ami nodded and glanced down at her hands, which she had folded 
primly on her lap. A soft pink color tinged her cheeks, giving her back 
some color. “Um… It’s just that I‘ve been experiencing really bad 
menstrual cramps lately,” she quickly explained. “My gynecologist 
suggested I go on birth control to help lessen the pain, that’s all.”

	“I guess that makes sense…”

	To be honest, though, Makoto sensed Ami was lying. She was 
getting the same feeling she got the morning when Ami first stayed out 
all night and told her that she had spent the night with her mother. At 
the time, she had decided to ignore it, not wanting Ami to think she 
was mothering her, but, with the discovery of the birth control pills, 
things were finally starting to come together.

	Why was she hiding it, though?

	Unfortunately, before Makoto got the chance to question Ami 
further, her roommate glanced down at her watch and jumped up from the 
couch. “Oh, no, now I really am going to be late!” Ami gasped, 
unceremoniously pushing the rest of her things off the table and into 
her purse before heading to the door. “I’ll see you later, Mako-chan!”

	“Wait!” Makoto called after her. “What time will you be coming 
home tonight? I was thinking of making lasagna for dinner.”

	At the door, Ami stopped, her hand on the doorknob, and turned 
back around. “Dinner?” she repeated. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I’m 
having dinner with okaa-san tonight. I’ll probably spend the night, so 
don’t expect me home until morning.”

	“Again?” It was the third night that week Ami claimed she was 
going to visit her mother. 

	“She misses me, I guess,” Ami replied with a soft smile and a 
shrug of her shoulders, “but don’t worry, I promise tomorrow night I’m 
all yours. You can make your lasagna then.”

	“Sure,” Makoto agreed, really having no choice in the matter.  

	“See you tomorrow, then.”

	“Sayonara, Ami-chan.”

	Once Ami left, Makoto let out a loud sigh as she rose from her 
kneeling position at the coffee table and took a seat on the couch. 
Lately, it seemed as if her roommate was a completely different person, 
and it all had started that fateful night when Ami hadn’t come home. 
Makoto would bet her entire week’s paycheck that whatever had happened 
that night -- and she had her suspicions -- was the cause of the change 
in her roommate, but where had she gone?

	Unable to deny her curiosity any longer, Makoto headed to the 
phone, hesitating for a long moment before finally dialing one of the 
numbers on their contact sheet. She might not know where Ami had slept 
that night or any of the other nights since then when she claimed to be 
visiting her mother, but Makoto could confirm her suspicions that her 
roommate was lying about something. Bringing the phone up to her ear, 
it rang five times before somebody finally answered.

	“Moshi-moshi?” 

	“Mizuno-sensei? This is Kino Makoto, Ami-chan’s roommate.”

	“Oh, Kino-san, how nice to hear from you,” Dr. Mizuno Saeko 
said, sounding genuinely pleased. “How are things?”

	“Fine, thank you,” Makoto replied, not elaborating any further. 
It was not the time for small talk, and she was afraid that if she 
waited any longer, she would lose her nerve. It didn’t feel right to 
pry into Ami’s private life behind her back, but her behavior as of 
late was very suspicious. “Um, Mizuno-sensei, may I speak to Ami-chan?” 
she asked, knowing perfectly well Ami was on her way to the lab.

	“Ami?” Just as Makoto suspected, Ami’s mother seemed surprised 
and confused by the request. “Gomen, but Ami isn’t here, Kino-san,” the 
doctor informed her.

	“Do you know when she plans to arrive?” Makoto asked, on the 
off-chance that Ami really was telling the truth, and they did have 
dinner plans together later.

	“Here? I didn‘t know Ami planned to visit.”

	Makoto frowned upon hearing that, though the answer was 
expected. It looked as if her suspicions about Ami were correct after 
all. “You mean you don’t have plans for dinner?”

	“No, none that I know about. In fact, I was just on my way out 
to work the night shift at the hospital when I got your call.”

	“Oh, I must have misunderstood her, then.”

	“Is everything alright with Ami?” her roommate’s mother asked, 
a tinge of worry in her voice. “Nothing’s wrong, is it?”

	“No, everything’s fine,” Makoto assured her with false 
cheerfulness. There was no point in worrying Dr. Mizuno when she 
herself wasn’t completely sure what Ami was hiding. “I’m sure I just 
heard her wrong, that’s all.”

	“Well, tell my daughter that I would love to have both you and 
her over sometime for dinner when I do have the night off,” the doctor 
said. “It seems as it has been weeks since I talked to her last.”

	“Thank you, that sounds lovely, Mizuno-sensei. I’ll relay the 
message and have Ami-chan call you to work out the details. Sayonara.”

	“Sayonara, Kino-san.”

	Placing the phone back in its cradle, Makoto’s frowned 
deepened. Unintentionally, Dr. Mizuno had also blown Ami’s alibi for 
the other nights as well with her comment about not having spoken to 
her daughter in weeks -- in itself, also a strange occurrence. They 
both had insanely busy schedules, but, usually, they tried to chat at 
least once a week, whether it was face-to-face or over the phone. It 
was definitely strange for Ami to blow off her mother like that.

	“Ami-chan, what are you hiding from us?”

*****

	“I’ll take ‘Broadway Stars’ for $400, Alex-san.”

	On the TV, the camera cut to a quick shot of the graying host 
of the popular American game show before the screen turned blue, 
revealing the clue. “This English soprano, once married to Andrew Lloyd 
Webber, originated the role of Christine in his ’The Phantom of the 
Opera,’” the dubbed voice of Alex Trebek read aloud in Japanese for 
those who could not read the white English text.

	“Who is Sarah Brightman?” Ami automatically answered along with 
the married father of three who was fortunate enough to hit the buzzer 
first.

	“That is correct, John-san. You now have control of the board.”

	“Let’s go to ’Chemistry’ for $800.”

	Again, the screen went blue. “This law states that the product 
of the volume and pressure of a fixed quantity of an ideal gas is 
constant, given constant temperature.”

	Akira smiled. Too easy. 

	“Boyle’s Law,” he declared confidently, only to hear his 
girlfriend, who was snuggling against him on the couch, her free hand 
absent-mindedly petting a content Mercury, make a buzzing sound.

	“Wrong!” 

	“What?!” Akira exclaimed in surprise. “What do you mean I’m 
wrong?  Are you challenging my undisputed authority on all things 
related to the field of chemistry?”

	Ami shook her head. “No, but you forgot to give your response 
in the form of a question,” she reminded him. “Again.”

	“Damn!” That was the third time that night he had forgotten to 
answer the clue with a question. Stupid American game show. “Hey, let’s 
watch something else,” Akira suggested, reaching for the remote control 
sitting on the end table and flipping through the channels.

	Giggling as he channel surfed, Ami rolled her eyes at the Corgi 
half-sitting on her legs. “Oh, Mercury, your master is such a sore 
loser,” she teased, rubbing one of the dog’s ears just the way Mercury 
liked it. Despite being a confessed cat person, Ami got along famously 
with the sometimes over-protective dog.

	“I am not!” Akira replied in his defense. “I just happen to 
think it’s stupid to give the answer and expect people -- ah, now this 
is more like it!”

	He had stopped on the sports channel, which was broadcasting a 
highlights show of the All-Star series. Looking over, however, Ami 
wrinkled her nose, obviously not agreeing with his choice of 
entertainment.

	“Baseball again?” she sighed. She had never been much of a fan 
of Akira’s favorite sport, though she usually tried to feign a mild 
interest when they were watching a game. “I thought the season was 
already over.”

	“Don’t make that face, Ami. Baseball is actually quite 
fascinating when you look at it from a scientific standpoint. The 
physics involved -- Hey!”

	Before he got the chance to finish, Ami grabbed the remote from 
his hand and flipped the channel. “Here’s something we can both enjoy 
-- ‘Someday’s Dreamers,’” she announced. “Look, it’s my favorite 
episode, the one where Kera-san learns he has magic.”

	“Is that the new anime about the country girl who comes to 
Tokyo to train for her mage’s license?” he asked.

	“Hai!”

	Akira groaned. At Ami’s insistence, he had seen a few episodes 
of the decidedly shoujo anime, his girlfriend‘s new favorite, and found 
it to be mind-numbingly dull, though he did have to admit it was 
beautifully animated. As far as he was concerned, the only good thing 
about it was the voluptuous D.J. Milinda, with her black leather micro
-mini and generous cleavage.   

	“Ami, nothing interesting ever happens on this show!” he 
complained for the hundredth time.

	“Just because it doesn’t have mecha or fighting doesn’t mean it 
isn’t interesting. It’s a touching and subtly emotional coming-of-age 
story about learning what is important in life and accepting who you 
are.”

	“I still say it’s boring,” he insisted. “I mean, would it have 
killed the animators to put in at least one full-body shot shower scene 
of Yume-chan instead of that lame headshot? Or better yet, Milinda-
san?”

	The comment earned him a playful slap on the arm. “Ecchi!” Ami 
teased, the once-shy girl more accustomed to his sometimes perverted 
sense of humor than when they first started dating.

	“Hey, I’m only asking for equality in fan service. If Oyamada-
sensei and Kera-san can walk around shirtless, then I think it’s only 
fair that the girls should have to show some skin as well. Right, 
Mercury?”

	Mercury barked in reply, causing Ami to roll her navy blue 
eyes. “Please! As if ‘Love Hina’ is an equal opportunity anime.”

	“That’s different.”

	“How?”

	“Uh…it just is!” he declared, once again taking control of the 
remote. Deciding they had watched enough television for the night, 
Akira clicked off the set and placed the remote back on the table. 
"Better?” he asked, wrapping his arms around the blue-haired girl.

	“Much.”

	Ami snuggled closer against his body, her cheek pressed against 
his chest and her arms wrapped loosely around his waist. She sighed in 
contentment, and Akira smiled, landing a soft kiss on the top of her 
hair.

	It really was quiet moments like these he treasured the most -- 
the times when words were superfluous and it was just enough to be 
together, holding each other in one another’s arms. There was such a 
peaceful tranquility about it, as if they were the only two people left 
in the world, a world in which they were no longer student and teacher, 
but simply Ami and Akira, young lovers with their entire lives ahead of 
them. 

	Still, there were times when he wished things were different. 
It wasn’t fair that Ami -- a beautiful, vibrant, young girl -- should 
be forced to hide her feelings for him as if they were something 
shameful and wrong. How jealous she must feel sometimes, watching her 
friends and peers parade their boyfriends in front of her and knowing 
that, at least for the present, she couldn’t tell them about him. Akira 
couldn’t even take her out on a proper date, their romantic lives 
virtually confined to his apartment and whatever moments they could 
steal in the lab in fear that somebody else from the school would 
discover their affair. Of course, Ami never once complained, insisting 
that she preferred to stay in anyway, but there were so many places he 
wished he could take her: the planetarium, museums, concerts, maybe 
even a baseball game or two.

	Shifting his body on the couch so that his head rested on the 
armrest and Ami lay on top of him, Akira sighed.

	“I’m sorry, Ami,” he apologized.

	She partially propped herself up, staring down at him in 
confusion. “For what?” she asked.

	“For this.” With his free arm, Akira indicated the apartment. 
“I wish we could go out on a real date. You must be so bored of this 
apartment by now.” 

	Ami shook her head. “Not at all,” she replied with a slight 
smile. “As long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter where we are.”

	“Really?”

	A faint pink blush painted her cheeks. “H-Hai!”

	Smiling, partially in relief, but mostly in happiness, Akira 
brushed a wayward strand of Ami’s blue hair back behind her ear, amazed 
as always by her understated beauty. “I feel the same way,” he said 
truthfully.

	Bringing her head back down, Akira gently kissed Ami’s slightly 
parted lips, the taste of her cherry-flavored chapstick -- the only 
make-up she wore -- adding to the sweetness. Her blush deepened more, 
but Ami didn’t pull away, instead shifting her body to give him better 
access. The one kiss became two, then three and four and five…

	They were so involved in each other, neither remembered they 
still had company until they heard a loud bark coming the foot of the 
couch. During the quiet that had followed turning off the TV, Mercury 
had been lulled into a light sleep, but he received a rude awakening 
when Akira accidentally kicked him with his foot. The dog, now wide 
awake and jealous of the attention being lavished by his master on his 
lover, made his displeasure known, barking and growling until they 
finally pulled apart, laughing.

	Akira rolled his eyes. “That dog,” he muttered, though 
affectionately. Over the years, he had grown accustomed to Mercury’s 
territorial behavior. The dog hadn’t been too fond of the attention he 
had given to Maeko either whenever his ex-fiancée had come over. “Why 
don’t we take this to the other room?” Akira suggested, nodding his 
head in the direction of his bedroom. “Away from prying eyes?”

	Blushing, Ami nodded her consent and pushed herself up so that 
Akira could stand. He then took her hand, and pulling her up from the 
couch, lead her to the bedroom. Whimpering, Mercury followed, but Akira 
managed to stop the dog with his foot, lightly pushing him away.

	“Sorry, boy, no dogs allowed.”  

	And with that, he closed the door. 

*****

	“Mako-chan, I’m home,” Ami called out the next morning as she 
entered their apartment, the air filled with mouth-watering scents, and 
slipped out of her shoes. “Mmm, something smells delicious. Are you 
making pancakes?”

	Walking in the kitchen, she found the tall brunette busy at the 
stove, expertly flipping a pancake high in the air before catching it 
on the spatula and neatly setting it back in the pan. Makoto, sensing 
Ami’s presence, turned around and greeted her roommate with a smile. 
"Hai, I am,” she replied. “Have you already had breakfast?”

	“I grabbed a granola bar before I left my mother’s,” Ami lied, 
the words becoming almost second nature to her after telling the fib 
for so long, “but you know I always have room for your blueberry 
pancakes.”

	Ami took a seat at the small breakfast nook in the corner, and 
once Makoto finished transferring the last pancake to the top of the 
large stack she had already made, she brought the plate to the table. 
However, she didn’t immediately start to serve, instead staring at Ami 
with a confused look on her face. 

	“Ami-chan, where were you last night?” Makoto unexpectedly 
asked, causing Ami to glance up at her roommate in surprise.

	“W-What do you mean?” Ami stuttered. “I told you I was at okaa
-san’s apartment.”

	“No, you weren’t.” Makoto placed a couple of the warm pancakes 
on Ami’s plate before taking a seat opposite of her, her face deadly 
serious as emerald green eyes met sapphire blue. “Ami-chan, I called 
Mizuno-sensei last night after you left for the lab,” she confessed. 
"She wasn’t aware of any plans for you two to meet for dinner. In fact, 
when I called, she was on her way to the hospital to work a shift.”

	“You called okaa-san?!” Ami never even considered the 
possibility that Makoto would actually check out her alibi. Her mother 
and her roommate were on friendly terms, but not so friendly that they 
would call each other out of the blue without Ami‘s knowledge. Even on 
the rare occasions when Makoto had needed to contact her when she was 
staying over at Akira’s, she always called Ami’s cell phone, not her 
mother’s phone.

	“I was worried about you,” Makoto admitted. “You’ve been acting 
strange these last couple of months.”

	“Strange?” Forcing out a nervous laugh, Ami reached for the 
syrup and began pouring a generous helping over the pancakes. “You’re 
imagining things, Mako-chan. I’m the same as I’ve always been.”

	“No, you’re not. The Ami-chan I know doesn’t lie about where 
she spends the night.”

	“It was one time,” she protested, knowing as soon as the words 
came out of her mouth how pathetic they were.

	Makoto gave her a disbelieving look. “You’re lying again!” she 
accused. “Mizuno-sensei said she hasn’t spoken to you in weeks.”

	“Well…uh…”

	Flustered, Ami started to blush, her brain working overtime to 
think of another lie, but before she could, Makoto‘s face softened, her 
lips pursing in a small, knowing smile. “Listen, you don’t have to lie 
to me anymore,” she said, her voice losing some of the edge from 
before. “If you have a boyfriend, you can tell me. I won’t be jealous. 
I’m happy for you.”

	“A b-boyfriend?” How could she have possibly guessed? “What 
makes you think I have a boyfriend?” Ami asked.

	“Please!” Makoto rolled her eyes. “I may not be as smart as you 
are, but I managed to put together the pieces: that mystery lunch you 
made a few months ago, staying out all night, lying about where you 
were, carrying around birth control pills… There’s really only one 
explanation.”

	“Oh!” Before she could stop it, Ami’s hand accidentally hit a 
glass of orange juice sitting nearby, tipping it over.

	Makoto laughed as Ami reached for some napkins and began 
soaking up the orange liquid. “I’ll take that to mean I guessed 
correctly,” she said, helping with the clean-up. “So, who is the lucky 
guy? Do I know him? Why all the secrecy?”

	Though she knew she had been caught in her web of lies, Ami 
still refused to admit defeat. No matter what, she couldn’t allow her 
roommate, or anybody else for that matter, to find out she was dating 
one of her college professors, especially since they had already had 
one close call with Dr. Nakajima discovering their secret. “Mako-chan, 
I didn’t say I had a boyfriend,” Ami reminded her, her voice remarkably 
calm considering her pulse had just quickened to twice its normal speed 
and her heart was pounding against her chest.

	“Oh, stop trying to deny it, Ami-chan. It’s written all over 
your face,” Makoto said, throwing away one of the soaking paper towels. 
“I’m just wondering why you haven’t told us about him yet. Things must 
be pretty serious between you two if you’re on the Pill and sleeping 
over at his place at least twice a week. Don’t you want us to meet 
him?”

	“It’s not that,” she sighed. It was becoming obvious that 
Makoto would not let the subject of her boyfriend drop.

	“Then invite him to come over for dinner tonight. We’re having 
lasagna, so there should be plenty to eat. I want to meet the man who 
finally managed to win Mizuno Ami’s heart.”

	“I can’t.”

	“Sure you can. Then after dinner’s over, I’ll head over to 
Minako-chan’s apartment or the shrine so you two lovebirds can have the 
whole place to yourself.” 

	“You *really* don’t have to do that, Mako-chan…”

	“It’s not a problem,” the brunette insisted. “In fact, now that 
you have a boyfriend, maybe we should come up with some kind of secret 
code to let the other person know when one of us is entertaining 
guests.” Placing a finger on her chin, Makoto only had to think a 
second before snapping her fingers. “Hey, how about a tie on the 
doorknob?” she suggested. “That’s a classic!”

	“Mako-chan!” Completely horrified by the idea, Ami turned as 
bright as a ripe tomato and emphatically shook her head. “No tie! No 
signal! Absolutely not!”

	“Why are you getting so bent out of shape, Ami-chan? It’s 
nothing to be embarrassed about.”

	“You just don’t understand,” Ami said, sliding back down in her 
chair.

	“Well, make me understand. Why don’t you want your mystery 
lover to come over?”

	“Because…um…he’s kind of…um…”

	“What?”

	“Married,” Ami declared, regretting the lie as soon as she said 
it.

	However, as horrible a lie as it was, it seemed to do the 
trick. Makoto’s eyes widened to almost twice their normal size, and 
sitting back down at the table, she stared at Ami as if she had 
suddenly grown a second head. “Married?!” she squeaked.

	It was too late to take the lie back. Having no choice but to 
continue with the charade, Ami nodded, her eyes cast downwards. 
"Separated, actually,” she said, hoping it made things sound a little 
better.

	Makoto shook her head in disbelief. “I never thought I would 
see the day: Mizuno Ami stole another woman’s man.”

	“I didn’t *steal* anyone,” Ami insisted. “He and his wife were 
already separated when I met him, but we’re trying to keep our 
relationship secret until the divorce is finalized.”

	“And when will that be?”

	“I don’t know. Apparently, his wife is fairly wealthy, and 
they’ve been fighting over the settlement…” Ami let the rest of the 
explanation trail off, not caring to elaborate any further on her 
supposed “affair.” The less she told Makoto, the better. It was bad 
enough that she was still lying to her best friend without complicating 
things even further. “Anyway, now do you understand why I don’t want to 
introduce him to you and the other girls?” she asked.

	“Crystal clear,” Makoto said, nodding. “I promise, no more 
questions. And I won‘t tell the others, either.”

	Ami let out a sigh of relief. Maybe her lie wasn’t such a bad 
thing after all. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.” 

	Glancing down at her watch, Ami was surprised to see that it 
was almost time for her to head to her first class of the day. If she 
didn’t hurry, she would be late. She took a couple of bites from her 
pancake and gulped down the rest of the orange juice left in the glass 
she had knocked over earlier before standing. “Well, I have to get to 
class,” she announced. “Are we still on for lasagna night?”

	“Sure, if you don’t have any plans.”

	“No, no plans. I’ll see you around eight. Ja ne!”

	“Ja ne!”

*****

	Akira was looking something up on the computer when Ami arrived 
at the lab that afternoon, but glancing over at his girlfriend as she 
took off her jacket and slipped into a lab coat, he immediately sensed 
something was wrong. She didn’t seem as enthusiastic as she normally 
did when she arrived for work. Minimizing the window on the computer, 
Akira stood and walked over to the coat closet beside the door.

	“Hey, Ami, what’s wrong?” he asked, helping her slip her arm 
into the other sleeve of the coat.

	“Wrong?” Ami repeated, acting oblivious. “What makes you think 
something’s wrong?”

	“Don’t even try to tell me there’s not something bothering you; 
I could sense it the moment you walked in the room.”

	“It’s nothing,” she insisted with a sigh. “It’s just that…”

	“What?”

	“My roommate almost found out about us this morning.”

	Akira, to his credit, kept his cool, though a part of him felt 
as if he‘d just barely missed getting hit by a moving bus. First Dr. 
Nakajima, now Ami’s roommate… “What do you mean she almost found out 
about us?” he asked, running his hand through his hair. “How?”

	“It’s okay,” she was quick to assure him. “I managed to 
convince her that I was seeing a married man, and that was why we 
needed to keep our relationship a secret, but I hate lying to her. 
Mako-chan is one of my best friends.”	

	Pulling her toward him, Akira enveloped Ami in a comforting 
hug, knowing how she must feel. “Oh, Ami, I’m sorry you have to go 
through this,” he apologized, kissing the top of her head. “I know it 
must be tough, keeping us a secret from the people you love.”

	“It is, but I knew what I was getting into when we agreed to 
continue seeing each other,” she said, sighing as she buried her face 
in his shoulder. “I just wish…”

	“What?”

	“I wish we could go someplace far away, where we didn’t have to 
worry about hiding how we feel about each other,” she declared. 
"Someplace where nobody knew who we were.”

	It took all Akira’s willpower not to chuckle as he glanced over 
her head at his laptop, thinking of the absolute irony of it all. Just 
before she arrived, he had been surfing the web for just that, a place 
for them to spend the holidays in complete secrecy. After all, Ami 
wasn’t the only one who needed a break from all the pressure of keeping 
their relationship a secret. The trip was supposed to be a surprise, 
but considering her mood, Akira thought she could use something to 
which to look forward.

	“Well, why don’t we?” Akira asked, trying to sound as casual as 
possible.

	“Why don’t we what?”

	“Go away together, just the two of us.”

	“What?” Pulling away from his embrace, Ami looked up at him and 
laughed. “Akira, no, we can’t,” she protested. “It’s a nice idea, but 
we couldn’t possibly take a vacation together.”

	“Why not? Winter break starts begins soon.”

	“You’re serious.”

	“Dead,” he replied, smiling as he saw Ami’s eyes go wide. “You 
don’t have any plans, do you?”

	Still in shock, Ami shook her head. “No, okaa-san will be away 
at a medical conference during the holidays, so I was planning to stay 
home and hang out with my friends.”

	“Great. Then there’s nothing stopping us.”

	“Akira, is this a good idea?” Ami asked, cautious as always. 
"If anybody saw us together --”

	“They won’t,” he assured her, leading her over to his laptop 
and pulling back up the page he had been looking at before Ami came in. 
“Here, look at this place.”

	The website advertised a small, but beautiful, ski resort 
located in the mountains near Nagano. In addition to the ten luxury 
suites in the main building, there were six private cabins available 
for rent. The site promised world-class skiing, along with delicious 
cuisine and a romantic atmosphere “perfect for lovers,” as quoted by 
the owner on the home page.

	“It’s beautiful, Akira,” Ami breathed, clicking on one of the 
links to look at pictures of the lodge, “but isn’t this place 
expensive?”

	“Don’t worry about the cost, Ami,” Akira said. Looking over her 
shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. “I would 
sell my soul for the chance to have you all to myself for an entire 
week.”

	“B-But --”

	“No buts. Just imagine how wonderful it would be. Days skiing 
on the slopes, evenings cuddling by the fireplace, nights spent in 
ecstasy…”

	Akira grinned when he noticed the flushed look on Ami’s face, 
her cheeks colored a rosy pink. He knew he was wearing down her 
resolve.

	“It does sound tempting,” she admitted. “It’s been ages since 
I’ve been skiing.”

	“Then say ’yes,’” he urged, spinning the swivel chair around so 
that they were face-to-face. “Ami, who knows when we’ll have another 
chance like this. It’s the perfect time for us to get away, to go 
someplace where nobody knows who we are. Don’t you want that?”

	“More than anything.” 

	“So what’s stopping us?”

	Ami hesitated for a moment, considering the question, before 
her face broke out into a joyous smile. “Nothing,” she answered, 
throwing her arms around his neck. “Absolutely nothing.”

	“Is that a yes, then?” he grinned, already knowing the answer 
to the question.

	“Yes, yes, yes!”    

*****

	The sound of somebody’s slightly off-pitch humming of the 
holiday classic “White Christmas” greeted Makoto as she entered the 
apartment later that evening, home after working a shift at the 
restaurant. Raising an eyebrow, she slipped out of her shoes and headed 
to the kitchen, where she found the blue-haired singer tossing together 
a salad as a side dish for the lasagna they would be having for dinner.

	“Well, somebody’s in a good mood,” Makoto commented from the 
doorway, letting out a chuckle when, startled by her presence, Ami 
jumped and accidentally tossed some of the lettuce out of the large 
wooden bowl.

	“Mako-chan, don’t scare me like that!” Ami admonished as she 
turned around and playfully wagged one of her spoons in Makoto‘s 
direction. “When did you get home?”

	“Just a couple of minutes ago.” Taking over the fixing of the 
salad, Makoto grinned at her roommate, who began cleaning up the small 
mess she had made. “So, what’s with the Christmas carols?” she asked. 
“Christmas isn‘t for a couple more weeks.”

	“It’s nothing. I’m just happy.”

	“That much is obvious. What happened? Good day at school?”

	“Something like that,” Ami replied mysteriously, tossing away 
the ruined lettuce.

	As her roommate opened the refrigerator and grabbed a tomato, 
Makoto rolled her eyes. “Come on, Ami-chan, tell me,” she said. “
Something obviously happened to put you in such a good mood.”

	“Well…” Blushing, Ami focused her attention on slicing the 
tomato. “Okay, I suppose I’ll eventually have to tell you anyway. Guess 
where I’m going for the holidays.”

	“I give up. Where?”

	“Nagano.”

	“Nagano?” Makoto repeated. “But isn’t your mother was going to 
that medical conference in Hong Kong?”

	“She is. My, uh, boyfriend is renting us a cabin.”  

	“Oh…” A knowing smile crossed Makoto’s lips. “That certainly 
sounds romantic.”

	“Mako-chan!” 

	“Well, it does!” she insisted, sighing wistfully as she set 
down the spoons she had been using to toss the salad and leaned against 
the counter. “I sure wish I was spending the holidays with my lover in 
a gorgeous winter wonderland. You‘re so lucky!”

	“It will be nice to spend some time alone,” Ami admitted, “but 
what about you? Now I feel bad about abandoning you during the holiday 
season.”

	“Don’t be, Ami-chan. I’ll be fine.” 

	“Are you sure?” she asked, some of her jubilation from earlier 
fading. “Because I don’t have to go…” 

	Makoto shot her a reassuring smile, waving off her concerns. 
She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little bit disappointed 
that they wouldn’t be spending the holidays together, but she wasn’t 
about to let Ami give up the chance of a lifetime on account of her. It 
sounded like a wonderful vacation, one the pre-med student richly 
deserved. 	

	“Nonsense! I’m happy for you,” Makoto said. “Christmas Eve is 
one of the most romantic nights of the year, and you should be with 
your boyfriend. Don’t let me get in the way of that.”  

	“But what about the year-end cleaning before New Year’s?”

	“Are you kidding? I live for December 31st. If I need any help, 
I’m sure one of the girls will be happy to lend a hand, but honestly, 
I’m rather accustomed to doing the cleaning myself anyway.”

	“I’m glad.” Her face brightening once again, Ami transferred 
the chopped tomatoes into the salad and took back over while Makoto put 
the frozen lasagna she had made the night before in the oven to reheat. 
“Oh, Mako-chan, can I ask you a really big favor?” she asked after a 
few minutes, almost bashfully.

	“Sure, what is it?”

	“Well, even though okaa-san is going out of the country, I’m 
sure she’s still going to want to know my plans, and since I can’t 
exactly tell her I’m going skiing with my married boyfriend…”

	“You want me to tell her that you’re going with me?” Makoto 
guessed.

	“If she happens to bring it up.”

	Makoto sighed. “I can’t believe you want me to lie to your 
mother,” she said. “You’re getting as bad as Minako-chan.”

	“Please? It’s important to me.”

	“Fine, if it’s that important,” Makoto agreed, wagging a spoon 
in Ami’s direction, “but consider this one of your Christmas presents.”

	“Arigatou, Mako-chan!”

*****

	About a week before Ami and Akira were to leave on their 
romantic Christmas get-away, her roommate managed to convince her to 
take a break from her constant studying to go shopping at the mall. At 
first, Ami, who had never been much of a shopper, hadn’t been too 
thrilled with the prospect of fighting the holiday crowds, especially 
when she knew she should have been preparing for her chemistry midterm 
-- dating the teacher didn’t automatically guarantee her an A, 
unfortunately -- but after the first twenty minutes, she couldn’t help 
but get into the Christmas spirit.

	It was hard not to when all of Tokyo was aglow with the sights 
and sounds of the holidays. Everywhere they looked, bright lights and 
festive decorations decked the halls, and all of the stores were 
holding fantastic end of the year sales. Ami was able to find Christmas 
and New Year’s presents for most of her friends and family, including a 
lovely floral-print scarf for Makoto, who had been busy trying on hats 
when Ami snuck off to pay for it, and a pair of gold earrings for her 
mother. In fact, the only person she had yet to buy a present for was 
Akira, who was proving more difficult to shop for than she expected.

	What kind of present did a girl give her boyfriend for the 
holidays, especially when said boyfriend was gifting her with a trip to 
a ridiculously expensive ski resort that he probably couldn‘t even 
afford? Ami had decided on the latest Sawai Ayaki novel for Mamoru and 
a small watercolor painting for her artist father that she knew he 
would love, but neither choice seemed quite right for Akira. 

	After browsing through the entire collection of CDs at the 
music store and deciding that none of them would do, Ami finally 
decided it was time to get some professional help. For the first time 
since it happened, she was glad that Makoto knew that she had a 
boyfriend. Her more experienced friend was bound to have some good 
ideas of what she should give Akira for Christmas.

	“A present for your boyfriend?” Makoto repeated after Ami had 
tracked her down in the jazz section of the store and asked for her 
help. “I don’t know, Ami-chan. I don’t even know the guy’s name, much 
less what he would like.”

	“Well, what kind of presents did you give your sempai?” Ami 
asked, hoping for inspiration.

	“Mostly cookies,” she replied, smiling at the confused look on 
Ami’s face. “Hey, we were in middle school,” Makoto explained with a 
shrug. “It’s not like I had the money to buy him expensive gifts. 
Besides, he always liked my cooking.” 

	Ami sighed. “My cookies are decent, but nothing compared to 
yours.” 

	“Then you can always make him something else. You were always 
really good at knitting, right? You could make him a scarf or a sweater 
or something like that.”

	“In two days, on top of studying for finals and my job at the 
lab?” Ami shook her head, rejecting the idea. “No, I think I probably 
should go ahead and buy something. There just isn’t time.”

	“Hmm…”

	Makoto was still pondering Ami’s problem as they paid for their 
purchases and left the music store, rejoining the throng of holiday 
shoppers. Ami, noticing the video store they had passed earlier, 
debated going in and just buying that boxset of “RahXephon” she knew 
Akira had his eye on, no matter how unromantic and impersonal a gift it 
was, when the tall brunette suddenly stopped in her tracks, nearly 
causing a seven-person collision. 

	“I got it!” she exclaimed.

	Ami, who had accidentally been whacked by one of Makoto‘s 
shopping bags, rubbed her arm. “Got what?” she asked.

	“An idea of what you can buy for your boyfriend. Follow me.” 

	Turning in the opposite direction of where they had been going, 
Makoto motioned Ami to come with her, giving Ami little choice in the 
matter if they didn’t want to be separated in the crowd and waste 
valuable study time looking for each other. When Makoto finally 
stopped, they were standing in front of a store that Ami had never 
entered in her entire life.

	“Victoria’s Secret?!” she squeaked when she saw the half-naked 
mannequins in the store’s window, clad in miniscule thongs, lacy bras, 
and see-through nighties, all in the colors of the season.

	“Your boyfriend’s bound to love anything you get from here,” 
Makoto declared confidently as Ami started to blush.

	“B-But… Ak-- I mean, my boyfriend -- he’s not like that. He 
doesn’t wear --”

	Green eyes blinked once in confusion before Makoto realized the 
misunderstanding. “Of course he doesn’t, Ami-chan!” she laughed. “He’s 
not going to wear it; you are.”

	“But I thought we were looking for a present for him.”

	“It is. Guys love their girlfriends to wear sexy lingerie, or 
at least that’s what Usagi-chan claims, and Mamoru-san seems pretty 
happy, so come on.”

	Reluctantly, Ami entered the store behind Makoto, her eyes 
averted from the provocative images on the walls and some of the more 
risqué pieces of lingerie. Not all the merchandise was as overly 
revealing, though, and, spotting some relatively modest nightgowns, Ami 
stopped to browse as Makoto looked at some nearby bras. 

	“This is kind of pretty,” Ami remarked, plucking a plum-colored 
satin chemise from the rack and holding it against her body as she 
turned toward her roommate. “What do you think, Mako-chan? Nice color, 
smooth fabric…”

	The brunette glanced up and immediately let out a disappointed 
sigh when she saw Ami‘s choice. “Ami-chan, you have three nightgowns 
exactly like that one.”

	“I do not. This one’s purple, and look at the lace at the hem 
and neckline. It‘s completely different.”

	Rolling her eyes, Makoto walked over to another nearby rack and 
pulled out her choice -- a lacy teddy that left little to the 
imagination. “How about this? He’ll love it.”

	“Mako-chan!” Ami’s face turned the exact same shade of red as 
the leather bustier adorning the mannequin she stood beside.

	“Not your style? Too bad.” Makoto put both nightgowns back on 
the rack, then, with a wicked gleam in her eye, took Ami’s wrist, 
pulling her toward the back. “I have just the thing to put you two in 
the Christmas spirit. Minako-chan and I saw it the last time we were 
here,” she explained, stopping in front of another mannequin. “Ta-da! 
Isn’t it perfect for Christmas Eve?”

	While Ami appreciated her friend’s sense of humor, the outfit 
on the mannequin was the worst yet. It consisted of a short, red, sheer 
baby-doll, trimmed with fake white fur and a “belt” just underneath the 
breasts, and a matching pair of thong underwear. The crowning glory, 
though, was the free, fur-trimmed hat that came with purchase. If the 
inspiration for the lingerie was lost before, there was no mistaking it 
after seeing that hat.

	“Mako-chan, I couldn’t possibly wear that!” Ami protested.

	“Why not? It’s not like he hasn’t seen you in less before, 
right?”

	“That may be the case, but --”

	“I think you would look cute wearing it. At least consider it,” 
Makoto urged, grabbing one off the rack and handing it to Ami to 
inspect.

	“I don’t know… I’m not exactly a ‘thong’ person…”

	“If you’re worried about it not being comfortable, they’re 
really not that bad once you get used to them.”

	“You’ve worn one before?” Ami asked, surprised.

	“Well, thongs are an easy way to get rid of unwanted panty-
lines,” she explained, with only the barest hint of a blush.

	Holding the baby-doll back up, Ami sighed. She supposed it 
wasn’t that bad. At least it covered more than the teddy Makoto showed 
her before. “I guess it is rather cute,” she admitted.

	“And it’s not as if you’ll have to wear it for long…” the 
brunette teased.

	“Mako-chan!” Playfully, Ami slapped her friend on the arm. “I 
never knew you were so ecchi!”

	“So, are you going to buy it?” she asked.

	After a moment of silent deliberation, Ami finally folded it 
over her arm to take to the counter. At worst, she and Akira would at 
least get a good laugh out of it, though she doubted she would ever get 
the courage to wear something so ridiculous. She would just have to 
find something else to give as his “real” present. 

	“Okay, you talked me into it,” Ami declared.

	They decided to look around the store for a few more minutes 
before checking out, picking up a few more things along the way. Ami, 
who was feeling bolder after deciding to buy the Santa-inspired 
lingerie, selected a pretty pale pink nightgown, a black teddy that was 
far more modest than the one Makoto had wanted her to buy though still 
rather risqué, and a couple of G-strings at her roommate’s insistence. 
She also picked up the purple chemise she had admired earlier, along 
with a matching robe, and a cute pair of flannel pajamas. Makoto, on 
the other hand, stocked up on matching bra and panty sets, claiming 
they were the only brand that provided the comfort and support she 
needed. Once they had finished paying and visited a couple more stores, 
they decided it was time to head back home.

	“I can’t believe you talked me into buying so much lingerie!” 
Ami exclaimed as they left the mall, weighed down with about a dozen 
bags between them. 

	“Trust me, your boyfriend -- whoever the heck he is -- is going 
to love seeing you in those,” Makoto assured her. “You’ll make his 
Christmas.” 

	Ami sighed. “I still wasn’t about able to find him a real 
present, though, and we’re supposed to be leaving in a week.”

	“I’m sure you’ll think of the perfect gift eventually,” Makoto 
assured her.

	“I hope so…”

DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Comments and criticisms can be sent to me at 
ElysionDream@aol.com. Special thanks to my editors, Starsea and
I Abibde/Samuraiter.