Disclaimer: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon & Sailor V are property of Naoko Takeuchi
Meaningless Love
Chapter 1 - Calm Before the Storm
"These are some great shots, Minako." Mamoru shuffled through her photos. It wasn't everyday the photography teacher complimented one of his students. Mamoru believed in tough love and only showed admiration when it was due. "I think you've definitely improved over the last few months." Minako beamed, "I expect your work for your finals to be just as exquiste, if not more." And he was back to his stern ways. Minako would take the compliment.
"Thank you, Mr. Chiba." Placing her photos back into her porfolio, she could feel the heated glares from the other girls in class. "I'm hoping to include some portrait shots, more of the journalist types though."
"That's fine," Mamoru excused the class for the day, "just make sure you use your viewfinder." She winced at the meer thought. Catching the look, he laughed. "It's not that bad, Minako. You can't always depend on that screen of yours."
"Why not?" Wasn't that the purpose of it, why look through the viewfinder when she could just look down at her screen.
"Believe it or not," he taunted, "their was a time when us old folks could only use the viewfinder." Before Minako could attest, Mamoru was showing her to the door. "Goodbye Ms. Aino, I will see you next Tuesday."
"Fine," She propped her backpack over one shoulder, "I'm leaving." Not many people liked Mamoru Chiba, he had the reputation for being a tough teacher and almost everyone she talked to had failed his course. It wasn't as difficult as everyone had complained. Sure he was tough, but weren't teachers supposed to be? "I'll see you next Tuesday." She yelled back as Mamoru practically shoved her out the door.
Mamoru admired her passion for photography, but he could only handle her personality for a few hours in a day.
"What? He complimented you?" Makoto couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I had no idea that man even knew what a compiment was."
Laughing, Ami nudged her brunette friend. "Come on, Makoto. It was your own fault for failing his course." Ami began to scold her, "if you knew you didn't like photography, you shouldn't have majored in it."
Makoto just rolled her eyes. "Well what about you, misses know-it-all?" She teased her blue haired friend. "Rumor has it you have an interview with one of biggest business men in the world."
"No, no." Ami quickly dismissed the rumors. "He's not the biggest business man in the world. His family's hotel business is well-known on the east coast, so now they're bringing it to the west coast." Minako could see the passion in Ami's bright blue eyes. That's another thing she shared with her friends. When they were passionate about something, they threw themselves completely into their work. "What better place to test the waters than here in Las Vegas. It hasn't been announced whether or not it will be a casino/hotel or just a hotel, kind of like the Thumper."
"Hopefully it's part casino, because the Thumper has been losing business before it was even built." 'Ronald Thumper' Minako mused, that man was all business. He could careless about the integrity of the strip, all he saw were dollar signs, so when the city of Las Vegas refused to allow him to build a casino, he built a giant tower of condominiums instead.
"Well, I'll be finding out in a few weeks." Ami was excited, but nervous. So many people in her class had tried to schedule a brief meeting with Kunzite Shitennou, but to no avail. Not even the news stations could get ahold of the mysterious man or his family, but thanks to her persistence, his PR finally agreed to a quick interview a few days before their grand opening.
Wanting to get a few candid shots for her final, Minako opted to roam the strip. Ami and Makoto offered to tag along, but Minako turned down their offer. 'Go home!' She had told them, 'get some well deserved rest. I won't be out too long anyways.'
Taking a few shots here and there, she soon found herself in the lot of an unfinished building. It looked like it was still being built. A large billboard read:
Mistress 9
Property of the Shitennou Family
Grand Opening: June 8, 2020
"This must be the place Ami is doing her report on." She knew she probably wasn't supposed to be on the empty lot, but with no fencing, she felt it was all fair game. "I could probably get some really good shots from up there." Glancing up at the tall building, Minako began to search for an opening, which honestly didn't take too long. 'Whatever company is building this place, should be fired.' She thought to herself as she squeezed through a crack in the door from the back of the building. Thanks to the many bright lights from the strip, it was easy for Minako to navigate around the building. Finally finding the staircase, she made her way up the high-rise building.
Minako prayed that their would be some nice compensation to walking up all these damn stairs. By the 20th floor, she was barely half way up. 'Fuck it!' Pulling out her Canon T6s, she began to shoot. It wasn't the best view, but it was better than taking shots from the ground.
"I'm sorry, Sir!" Minako quickly stopped shooting. Skimming the area, looking for the source of the voice, her eyes landed on a tall slim man with short white hair. His eyes, Minako noted, his irises were red. "That Kakyuu woman seems to be playing hard to get."
Wanting to stay out of their view, Minako began to make her way up the stairs, she needed to get to higher ground. "I don't like excuses, Helios." A taller man appeared from the shadows. He had shoulder length silver-white hair that glistened in the moonlight. Helios dropped to one knee as the mysterious man approached him. The 40th floor, Minako's legs burned. 'Damn those stairclimbers, I thought you were supposed to help?!' She groaned. "This place is opening in two weeks, I have yet to ever reschedule a grand opening, and I do not plan on starting now." Taking out her camera, she tried to get a good shot, but couldn't get a clear enough view. Pulling her camera to her face, she peeked through the viewfinder. As her camera began to focus, Minako could see a clear shot of the silver haired man. His skin was like porcelain, his eyes were a grey-blue, like the moon. His irises glowed in the moonlight.
"Yes, sir," Helios stood, "I promise. I'll take care of everything."
"Good," just as the man began to step away, Minako's shutter clicked, echoing throughout the building. He stopped abruptly, turning back to Helios, he heard it again. Skimming the area, his eyes trailed up the side of the tall building. Peeking through her viewfinder, Minako's eyes locked with his. Her heart dropped, she quickly dropped her camera and hid behind the exposed drywall. 'No fucking way,' Minako could feel her heart pounding, it almost felt as if it were going to bust out of her chest, 'how could he see me from up here?'
"Is something wrong, sir?"
"No," he disregardedHelios' questions, "Make sure this building is closed off before the grand opening. Nobody should be in the building, we don't need any accidents."
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing the sound of rubber burning against the pavement, Minako made a run for it. Escaping without being noticed, she was lucky. That man seemed dangerous, but who was he? Maybe he worked for the Shitennou's? Minako had to tell Ami what happened.
apigrabbit note: WOW. It's been a while...like 5 years "a while". I hope this didn't seem rushed, I'm still working on character traits and what not, so please bare with me.