#zoitoki

@sailormoonrarepairweek Day 2: Kisses

@smlgbtqweek Day 2: Arguement

@smlgbtqweek Day 4: Flowers

@smlgbtqweek Day 1: Morning

@sailormoonrarepairweek Day 3: Enemy

Sailor Moon LGBTQ+ Week Day 1: First Date

This is the only drawing I’ve finished and I didn’t think I’d be able to do all 7 days, but I’m in the groove now, so I’ll do my best!

He picked up a volume that featured a hideous frolicking flat-faced kid, flanked by two more elegant figures. One was feminine with long wavy blonde hair and Zoisite rather liked the frilly clothing style, but he was more drawn to the other figure, a man with long black hair and black clothes, practically a full shadow except for his face and blue eye makeup. He was looking out from the cover with a condescending look on his face, which, even though it was a drawing, reminded Zoisite too much of Kunzite. He glanced at the title, "Patalliro," not sure what that meant and he wasn't sure this was what he wanted to read, but he flipped it over to read the back cover.

"Can you believe that's still being published?" Zoisite turned toward the voice to find some guy standing next to him. He was a little bit taller than Zoisite, with blond hair in the same haircut Zoisite saw on plenty of men. "What?" Zoisite said instinctively.

"That manga," the man continued. "Patalliro. It started in 1978. Except for the frozen time, it's been running continuously."

"What's it about?" Zoisite asked as he continued sizing up the man. He seemed vaguely familiar but Zoisite wondered if he just one of those blandly handsome faces. Zoisite was intrigued by his eyes. They were green, like his own, but soft and friendly, if tinged with a touch of apprehension. Zoisite began to regret looking like a mess.

"Patalliro, the kid, is a ten year old dictator of a fantasy country, and gets into hilarious adventures. That's basically it, but those other two on the cover help him out and they have a romance subplot. It's actually really charming."

"I'm not in the mood for romance." Zoisite shoved the book back on the shelf, restraining himself from throwing it..

"What are you in the mood for?"

"I dunno," Zoisite shrugged. He figured the man was probably familiar because he worked at the bookstore, even though he had never gone inside, maybe he had seen him through the window. "Something exciting, but that you don't have to think too hard about?"

"Well, I might be biased," the man said as he pointed to the fantasy shelf. "But there's that one, the one with the unicorn, Radiant Odyssey. It's the manga adaptation of a game I worked on."

"Wait, what? You work on games?"

"Yes. I was the story director on Radiant Odyssey. I can tell you the manga did change some things--"

"I thought you work here and you were just trying to sell me a book. Or do you go around hawking the manga of your game?"

"No, that wasn't what I intended. I was here for new books, and I happened to see you, and thought it was a chance to talk to you."

"Why?" Zoisite narrowed his eyes. "Do I know you?"

"I see you around," the man said. "I sometimes go to the place where you work, the Claret Glass. You've served me drinks a few times, but your probably don't remember me." He paused, but then cleared his throat apprehensively and continued, "But we have met before. Before Crystal Tokyo."

Zoisite felt his stomach drop and his eyes scanned the space behind the man for an escape path. But the man spoke in a gentle tone and his face didn't seem angry. "My girlfriend at the time, Reika. You might remember her."

"Oh yes," Zoisite muttered. He hadn't thought about her since his return, but now that this man brought it up, did he ever remember Reika. His throat tightened remembering Kunzite's remark about her beauty. At the time he told himself Kunzite was joking, or deliberately provoking him, since Kunzite conjured a rose for him right after, but the once-charming memory took on a sinister tone now that Kunzite had left him. He felt that old rage burning in his throat, that despite the rose he still wanted to destroy that girl for drawing Kunzite's eye at all. He remembered his rage manifesting in a circular wall of flame to entrap that girl, her and this man standing before him. At that time, the man was nothing more than an obstacle, but Zoisite recalled how he had stepped in front of Reika with his arms outstretched, making himself vulnerable to protect her. The memory eased Zoisite's rage and his throat relaxed again. He found he couldn't hate this man, since Zoisite had done exactly the same to protect Kunzite.

"Yes," Zoisite repeated. "I remember, and I remember you." He did remember giving the man his drinks a few times. He seemed to be a semi-regular at the Claret Glass, at least at the weekends. They had made eye contact a few times. The man's eyes were always kind but seemed to be meeting Zoisite's with some apprehension, as they were now when Zoisite gazed at him flirtatiously. Zoisite didn't recall seeing Reika with the man at the bar, and he would have recognized her in an instant. The man had called her my girlfriend at the time, and Zoisite wondered if that meant no longer at this time. "I'm afraid I didn't get your name back then," Zoisite cooed.

"Motoki Furuhata," the man said with a nod of his head. The apprehension in his eyes seemed to have gone, and only kindness remained.

Zoisite nodded his head. "I guess you know who I am," he added, twirling a strand of hair around his finger.

Motoki gave Zoisite a small smile that he couldn't quite identify – was it kindness or pity, or possibly a kind of gentle flirtation that Zoisite wasn't used to? "If you're not doing anything," Motoki asked brightly. "Can I buy you a tea?"

"Tea?" Zoisite tapped his lip and peered coyly at Motoki. "That's a new one."