Chapter 1
(Minako's point of view)
It was a beautiful September day. I, Aino Minako, stepped out of Gucci and onto the streets of Crystal Tokyo. I'd just purchased a pair of Tom Ford stilletoes, black with with ribbon-ties that snake around my ankles. I smoothed a crease from my Prada skirt and jammed my sunglasses onto my face. Not as part of some half-hearted attempt to disguise myself, you understand. Emerging from the softly lit shop interior out into the bright sun had made me squint in shock. I don't see the point in trying to hide myself from the world, anyway. The fans are usually very sweet (especially the kids), and on the whole cause no trouble. You do meet the occasional over-lecherous old man, but I when that happens I just remind them of all the youma and such-like that I've destroyed, and ask them if they want to meet the same sticky end. Of course, I don't really mean it, but it certainly does the trick. I have them behaving like perfect gentlemen in no time! I don't mind the attention from the fans one bit. It's the media that I worry about, but so far I've been lucky, and fingers crossed it'll stay like that.
You may be wondering how everyone suddenly knew my identity. The thing was, when Usagi-chan became Neo Queen Serenity one year ago, it was pretty hard for us senshi to keep our real selves secret. We didn't have much choice. Suddenly, we were thrown into the public eye, and the public demanded to know the truth behind the elusive Sailor Senshi. So we told them. We told them everything, right from when I'd first fought as Sailor V, all about Serenity and Endymion, and up until Sailor Moon defeated Galaxia. Afterwards, Ami, Rei, Makoto and I were hot property. Everyone wanted a piece of us. The last 12 months have been manic. When I was a kid, I dreamed of being and idol, and now here I am, being paid ludicrous amounts of money to appear at award ceromonies, or have my photo taken, and buying my clothes from Gucci. It's an odd situation, but after all I've given up to be a senshi, I think I deserve to fully exploit the few perks of the job!
A shop sign caught my eye. Goddess Creations. I hadn't noticed that boutique before, so I wanted to check it out. As I entered the new boutique, one of the assistants smiled at me. I looked around. The clothes were stunning. Devine. Heavenly. Goddess Creations definately suited its name. I flipped through the racks of garments for a while, before selecting a gold organza gown with a silk lining. It was split to the navel, and the skirt shimmered with thousands of tiny beads. I carried the gown into the changing rooms. There were only two cubicles, each with a warm, soft carpet, a cream leather sofa, and a velvet curtain over the doorway. It seemed more like a movie star's boudoir than a changing room cubicle. I slipped the gown over her head. The silk felt cool on my skin, and the gown clung to my body in all the right places. I'd fallen in love with it. I pushed back the curtain, and sauntered up and down the aisle outside the cubicle to see what it would look like when I walked.
"Very nice, very sexy." A deep, male voice coming from behind me made jump suddenly. I spun around to see a tall man with long, straight silver hair leaning casually in the doorway. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, and wore a plain blue shirt, un-buttoned at the collar, with a very expensive-looking suit. Probably Armani flashed across my mind. I knew I recognised him, but from where? For some reason, the way he was standing there, staring at me, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, really annoyed me.
"What are you doing in the women's changing area?!" I demanded, "Get out!"
"Get out?! You must be joking! No one's ever ordered me to leave my own store before!" he laughed.
"You're store?! I didn't mean..." I was speechless. I felt so embarrassed. My face probably turned crimson, but I was to scared that it had done to look in the mirror and find out.
"Yes," he replied, "I haven't introduced myself very well, have I? I'm Kunzite, manager and chief designer for Goddess Creations. And if I may say so, you were just made to wear that dress, honey."
"Kunzite?" Realisation struck me. But what in God's name was he doing here?! Maybe I was dreaming this. Either way, I had to find out.
"So you do recognise me, Venus?"
"You...you should go Kunzite. Or else..."
"Or else you'll punish me in the name of Venus?" he mocked, "There's no need. Thanks to you, Beryl's long gone. I'm no longer 'under the influence' as you might say. So don't bother trying to blast me with 'Venus Power' like you did last time we spoke."
"You better be telling the truth, Kunzite, or Serenity will be on your case like lightening," I warned him coldly.
"Are you going to take that gown or not?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, I am, actually. Did you design it?"
"I did indeed."
"Well, it's very beautiful." With that, I walked back over to the cubicle. Kunzite followed.
"WHAT are you doing?"
"Nothing," he smiled sweetly.
I shut the curtain in his face. Who the hell did he think he was?! How dare he show up like this?!
At the cash desk, I paid with my credit card.
"Gold..." Kunzite murmured admiringly, turning the card over in his hand, "Still, I'd expect nothing less from the Queen of Venus. How is your planet, by the way, Venus? Or should I be calling you..." he glanced down at the name on my card, "...Miss Aino Minako?"
"Call me whatever." I muttered, still trying to decide whether to trust him or not. It was probably best not to. Yet.
"Aino Minako...beautiful child of love...strange."
"Why's that strange?" I asked.
"It should be woman. Not child. You look 100 woman from where I'm standing." He winked at me, and I gave him a coy smile. "I do believe that's the first smile you've given me, Mina-chan."
Was he flirting with me? I was sure he was. I supressed my natural instinct to flirt back. I couldn't help but like all his flattery, no matter how irritating, and probably evil he was. What's wrong with me? I mentally scolded myself.
"Venus is fine, thank you for asking. It was restored by the Silver Crystal at the same time as the Moon Kingdom. Not many people live there now, though." I replied calmly.
"Why ever not?" He sounded genuinely curious.
"Metalia wiped out all the Venusians at the same time as she destroyed the Moon Kingdom. I assume my people were reborn here, along with the rest of us, but unlike the senshi, they didn't recover their memories."
"So who does live there?"
"Sometimes I stay there in my castle, Magellan." I usually went to Magellan when I was seeking sanctuary, to relax when I'd had enough of the hustle and bustle of city life.
Ah, yes, I remember Magellan," he smiled dreamily, "I haven't been there for so long..."
"So, as I was saying, the only people that stay there are tourists. On honeymoon's and stuff mostly. No one's really keen to move there permenantly, so it's pretty quiet. But Kunzite, what I really, really want to know is why you are here," I'd had enough of tip-toeing around it, and decided to get straight to the point, "I thought you were dead."