Chapter 2

"You're late, miss Aino. Again."

"But I was almost on time. I'm improving, don't you think?"

Her impish smile seemed to soften even the strict teacher.

"Go sit down. You'll stay after class."

Minako smiled, bowed and did as said. Rei rolled her eyes. She didn't know why, but it didn't surprise her.

She listened to the class half heartedly and kept an eye on the girl next to her. Minako was taking notes. Or faked it. Rei was almost sure she was drawing.

Great. And that was her leader? Really, it was almost embarrassing.

"Miss Aino, maybe you could translate this for us. Surely you had the time to do your homework since you even came in late."

"Huh? Ah. Yes." She looked at the Japanese sentence on the board and frowned. "L'enfant souria et remercia son grand-père, avant de prendre la friandise et de partir."

The teacher frowned.

"It's almost perfect. It's not souria but sourit."

"Ah. Sorry."

The teacher nodded and went back to her correction. Minako smiled smugly. She hadn't done her homework, and the teacher knew it but couldn't do anything since she had correctly answered.

Rei suspected that Venus could not have pulled that trick if they had been in math or science class.

They had sport in third period. Volley-ball. Minako rapidly became the star of the class. Rei herself was pretty impressed by the girl's skills. She played like no other, really, her moves were impressive, she was athletic, strong, lucid and precise. She seemed really proud of herself but when the teacher asked her to join the school's team, she declined.

Volley seemed to put Minako in a very good mood. After the class she talked with a few girls, a smile on her face, about a party that would apparently be thrown that night at a boy's house.

Rei was lost in thought. She took her bag and began to leave before reminding herself that she had been waiting for Makoto in the first place. She stopped by the door of the locker room and looked around for her friend.

"Excuse me?"

Surprised, Rei turned her head to see Minako smiling at her.

"Sorry, but you're blocking the path."

"Sorry," mumbled Rei, taking a step to the side.

But Minako didn't left. She kept looking at her with a little smile. Despite her, Rei found herself annoyed.

"What?" she snapped.

"Are you always this grumpy?" Minako asked, unfazed.

"Excuse me?"

"You're always frowning."

"I am not!"

Minako giggled.

"You are. It's kind of cute, I must say."

"Excuse me?"

"There's this party at Toshio's place tonight. You should come," she said with a bright smile before leaving. "I expect to see you there, Reiko!"

"My name isn't Reiko. And I have better things to do!"

Minako winked at her without stopping.

"At seven, Reiko! And no scowling!"

She left, leaving Rei annoyed.

"You should see your face!" Makoto laughed.

"Shut up, it's not funny!"

"It is!"

"No, it isn't! Kami, even without her memories she's still a frustrating and arrogant brat! And she still calls me Reiko. The nerve of that girl!"

"I think we should go to that party."

"Absolutely not!"

"I know that your pride dictates to you to not go where Venus tells you to go, but we're on a mission there, remember?"

"Yes," mumbled Rei. "I hate parties."

"No kidding. Come on, I'll come too."


"Don't be so worried, Rei. You look like we're going to force you to sing."

Ami giggled and Rei scowled at Makoto.

"I think you should keep quiet."

They were walking toward the house. Loud music, laughter and cries of a bunch of teenagers that surely were drinking too much of things they shouldn't even been drinking. Dancing and crowd and smoke and way too much sexual tension.

Rei hated that. It was torture to her mind and she wished she could just shut down her sixth sense.

Usagi couldn't come. When her mother had asked her where they were going, she had told her the truth, being incapable to lie to her family if the situation didn't require it. Rei was relieved, she wanted the girl to be as far as possible from that type of gathering.

Once in the crowded house, they were immediately presented with glasses of a dubious mixture that smelled of beer and something fruity. By the time they reached the living room, they had been approached by four older guys and two really drunk girls, one of which had seemed ready to throw up.

"Really, who could have fun there?" Rei mumbled.

Makoto, who took a tentative sip from her glass and regretted it immediately, nodded.

"I'm not very fond of it either, I must say. They don't even know how to make a good cocktail!"

She looked at the dancers and the couples making out against the walls and sighed. Rei knew the feeling. She felt really different from these people and their attitude… Saving the world or trying to was certainly partly responsible for that.

"Well, Minako doesn't seem to have this problem," Ami said, pointing toward the scene.

Minako was playing the synthesizer in the band and looked like she enjoyed herself immensely. Once the song was done she was replaced by an 18 year old boy and she jump from the scene, right into the arms of another guy. He offered her a plastic cup that she drank from before playfully kissing the guy on the mouth and leaving him there.

Then she expertly progressed through the crowd and danced with a young man she seemed to know before giving him her plastic cup and going straight to Rei and the others. The three girls had stayed in a corner and were trying to talk despite the loud music.

Minako was wearing a white mini skirt, a dark top, black boots and a few jewels. That was more like the Minako Aino that Rei remembered.

"Reiko! You came! You're late."

"You must have rubbed off on me."

Minako smirked.

"In so little time? I'm good. I thought that you wouldn't come."

"It sounded like a challenge."

"Maybe it was one."

"You know Makoto Kino, from our class? And this is Ami Mizuno."

"Hi," she smiled. "The loud one didn't come?"

"Her name is Usagi Tsukino," Rei corrected.

"Don't look so cross. Take a drink."

"No thanks."

"That thing is awful," Makoto grimaced. "How can you even drink it?"

Minako giggled.

"You don't think and you swallow."

"I don't drink alcohol."

"I could have guessed, Reiko," teased Minako. "Don't look at me that way, I've never been drunk or anything, I like keeping my mind sharp. So, Reiko, can you dance?"

"Not here, and my name is Rei."

"I know."

"Are you always this annoying?"

"Are you always this rude?"

"I am rude! That's –"

"Totally true, I know. Do you love the music?"

"Is that music?"

"Not what I prefer, but it's good," Minako said with a smile.

"Are you in the band?" Makoto asked.

"Me? No. I just know the one who plays the piano and he lets me replace him sometimes. I play the guitar too. It's one of my hobbies. The other is sports, obviously."

"Minako! I looked everywhere for you!"

Minako frowned when she saw the boy that appeared behind her.

"Pretend that you didn't find me and get lost," she said sweetly.

"But I –"

"Don't want a girl 2 years younger than me to make a fool of me in public. Bye bye."

The cold edge in her tone or maybe the sudden hardness in her eyes pushed the young man to fear for his dignity and he turned back and walked into the crowd.

The smile Minako gave the girls was contrite.

"Sorry. An annoying fan."

"You seem to have a lot."

"Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's really a bother. That one was cute, but he's really not someone I want near me. He's like glue at that."

She seemed to tense suddenly. Rei wasn't sure because of the lack of light, but Minako looked pale.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah!" Minako said cheerfully. "A little tired, I guess that I did drink a little too much. I'm going to go home! See you at school!"

And before they even could say a thing, she disappeared. By the time the girls left the house, Minako was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn. She's good."

"She already was good with the appearing and disappearing acts when she was Venus."

"It's weird," Ami noticed. "She seemed to enjoy herself and it isn't late."

"I hope she didn't left because she was feeling unwell," Makoto said with hesitation.

But they all knew it was really unlikely.

"The positive side of things is that she seems to be interested in us, or at least in Rei."

"Yeah," Makoto laughed, "they're already acting like an old couple."

"We do not!"

"You do too! Well, you did, now Minako is more playful than anything. She doesn't seem as angry as she was when she was Venus."

Rei couldn't contradict her. She noted it, too. Minako seemed happy and carefree.

She seemed almost immature.

She seemed free.


There was an annoying beeping.

Really annoying and painful.

Minako cracked an eye open and threw her alarm clock against the wall. Of course, it broke. But Minako had a few new ones in a cupboard – Hayao was a good butler/gardener/driver/everything. He always knew what she needed.

She didn't left the safety of her comforter and took the pills that were waiting for her on her nightstand. She swallowed two of them and prayed for the excruciating pain to go away, keeping her eyes shut and the tears at bay.

Luckily, sleep came and she felt nothing. But, like often, nightmares were waiting for her.

Epic wars, and destructive powers, and pain, and sadness, and monsters, and so, so many corpses and blood and horror and ruins and despair.

Then, there were peace and music and a warm feeling. And pain again. And death, cold and lonely death.

That was when she woke up, to find a man beside her.

"Minako? Are you awake?"

"D… dad? Dad? What are you doing here? Since when are you home?"

She tried to sit up but failed. The man smiled, he was wearing a suit, and his feelings were distant.

"It's been an hour. Why are you not ready to go to school?"

"I won't go today."

"Minako, are you alright? Are you sick again?"

"It's okay. I'm just gonna sleep it off."

"Oh." He looked awkward. "When are you going to the hospital for your next treatment?"

"The day after tomorrow."

She knew. She didn't want to, but she already knew. He wasn't staying. She wondered why she was surprised. He never stayed.

"Will you have breakfast with me?" she asked anyway, and she was disgusted to feel hope inside of her heart.

"No." There. Crushed again. Hope was a form of torture in itself. "I don't have time. I'm sorry, but I'm just between two flights."

"Where are you going this time?"

"San Francisco. I have things to finish there."

She could feel his lies. She bet he was seeing one of his mistresses again. It hurt, and it shouldn't hurt, because it had always been that way. Really, Minako had spent more time with Hayao than with her parents. She had spent more time with maid/cook number 3 and 6 than with them.

"Where is mom?"

"In London, I think. An associate was being difficult. I'm going to go there next week. How is your new school?"

"Why can't I be home-schooled?"

"We already talked about this, Minako. We want you to have a life as normal as possible. At least we accepted that public school. I still think that a private one would have been better for you. You didn't enroll yourself in any team, right?"

"No, I didn't," Minako replied with a cold edge in her voice. "But I –"

"You heard your doctors. Physical activities are dangerous for you now. I don't want you to do anymore sports outside of school. And no more motocross."

"But I love it! I'm getting really good!"

"Minako, don't be a child," he scolded impatiently. "You won't do it again until your neurologist says it is safe. I'm going to be late. Do you need anything? I left you money, if you want to buy clothes or… things."

For god's sake, her neurologist would never authorize her to play sports again because her condition was only getting worse!

She wanted to be able to do things she loved. She wanted to be the captain of the volley-ball team. She wanted to drive her motocross in the forest. She wanted to play ping-pong. She wanted to play music and sing. She wanted to…

She wanted to do these things before dying. Her parents didn't understand. They were never there. They couldn't see the sickness progressing. They couldn't understand that the only things that kept her alive was what she loved to do, and not school and stupid classmates that she couldn't befriend because she knew she had only a few months left.

She wanted her parents to be there when she woke up at the hospital with bad headaches. She wanted not to feel so utterly alone when she was trying to fight death. She wanted them to be interested in her, in her hobbies, in her feelings. She wanted them to miss her. She wanted them to worry about her.

But it didn't work that way. They weren't like other families, her parents weren't like other parents who loved their children with that bright and warm love and passion. They liked her, in a distant sort of way. Because she was pretty and mature and funny and their child. But they didn't love her.

And they never would. It couldn't change in four to six months, and that was what she had left, and they acted like they didn't fucking understand it or even know it.

"I'm going then," her father said, not knowing how to react. "Be a good girl. I'll see you… when we'll come home, next week."

Minako nodded and closed her eyes. She heard the door shutting.

If only she hadn't that stupid and irrational hope that one day her parents would come home for her and to see her

She fell asleep again, knowing that when she would wake up, she would feel slightly better and that the mansion would be as neat, beautiful and cold as ever.

Maid number 8 would have finished cooking and cleaning and would be on her way out, and Hayao, good old Hayao that had survived years of Mrs Aino's dislike toward the maids that never stayed long when she was home, would be there, ready to drive Minako where she wanted or to make small talk if she was in the mood. He would stay until she had eaten something and then he would disappear in the gardens or the living room, after he gave her a warm and compassionate glance that would leave her colder and emptier.

Hayao would be saddened by her death, Minako knew it. Because he liked her, like a dear fifty something year old uncle. She loved him dearly too, he was around since she was eight and had through the years watched over Minako. He had raised her, in a way. Well, with the help of the last seven maids/nannies.

Yes, Hayao would be saddened by her death. And besides him, there would be Etso and Hitomi and that was that.

Three people, all adults of respectable ages and two of which weren't even of Minako's family.

Life was strange, really.


Minako hadn't showed up at school.

Rei would maybe not be that bothered by the fact if she didn't have the horrible feeling that it was linked with the girl's hasting retreat of the day before. And with her health.

With the pretense of having to bring Minako's homework to her, Rei got the girl's address after using all her scheming skills.

That was how she found herself in an upper residential zone of Tokyo, very neat and very… rich. In fact, Rei was sure that her father had a house near there somewhere. She studied the propriety in front of her with hesitation. She wasn't sure she was at Minako's house. When they were Senshi, Venus had seemed to live in hotels. Rei had thought that her family, if she had one, hadn't been in Tokyo.

But of course, it wasn't the case. Nothing was as it seemed with Minako Aino.

Rei stopped at the portal and waited for an answer. She was surprised to see a man of about 55 come toward her in a suit, a dirty rake in his right hand.

"Can I help you?"

"Huh, yes. Hello, I'm Rei Hino, and I was hoping to see Minako to give her her homework. Is this the right house?"

"Yes, it is," the man smiled, visibly amused by something. "I'm Hayao Komatsu, I work for the Ainos. You came all this way for that? You shouldn't have bothered, miss Hino."

"I'm a… friend."

"And you wanted to give her her homework?" he said with laughter in his eyes. "Are you sure you're not her mortal enemy?"

Suddenly Rei understood his humor and she smiled.

"I guess she won't be happy to see that she has to do 15 equations before Monday."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be teasing you, I guess Minako has more influence on me than I thought. It's really nice of you to have brought her the homework. I'm glad to see someone come here. She doesn't let people go that far ordinarily."

"Is she there?"

"No, not currently. I'm not sure, but if you want, you may find her at Etso's house."

He gave her directions and she left after thanking him.


Surprises, surprises, surprises.

Rei should just stop to expect certain things of Minako. It was as if the girl did it on purpose.

She found Minako in a big garage that had been apparently adapted to welcome installations for around 25 guinea pigs. Astonished, Rei watched Minako give five of them vegetables while petting the one she had in her arms. The pets were with three or more of their kind in very well converted enclosures. They had all they needed. Little wood houses and promontories, fresh grass and hay, and of course their little friends. And all of them were calling to Minako for more vegetables.

"Stop it, little gluttons!" Minako laughed. "All of you had your share. No more until tomorrow."

Rei stayed stilled, stunned. Really, there she was, an (ex?) idol in expensive clothes and shoes in the middle of a smelly garage full of loud little furballs, and she was feeding them and cuddling the adult one (if Rei weren't wrong) she was holding, one with creamy, white, black and red curly long-hair. And she didn't seem to be worried about her clothes or her manicure.

Rei suddenly felt awkward. Like she was intruding.

Minako tensed and turned her head toward the door and Rei. She seemed surprised and nervous but that disappeared when she smiled happily at the miko, as if she had been awaited her all along.

"Hey, Reiko! How was your day?"

"Huh… fine. Sorry to intrude. Mister Komatsu said I could find you there, and nobody answered the door at the house so I went there when I saw that it was open."

"Hayao gave you this address?" Minako frowned. "I'll have to have a few words with him. Etso must have fallen asleep again. Don't stay there! Come in! Don't worry, they won't eat you, you know!"

"I never saw this much guinea pigs before now."

"Ah, do you like them? I love them, they're cute and soft, and so adorable. When Etso's wife died he felt so alone that he began to breed his guinea pigs. He adores them. See, he has a few different breeds, American, Peruvian, Teddy, Texel and Abyssinian. I want him to get Silkie and Coronet ones, but he says he has enough. And… you have absolutely no idea of what I'm talking about, right?"

Rei laughed.

"I didn't even know that there were all these breeds!"

"There's more breeds in fact, and different types or colorings too. One day I met Etso when I was seven and I decided that I would come see him and his pets sometimes. That's how I learned about guinea pigs."

"I didn't know you loved animals."

"Why would you?" Minako asked, a cautious gleam in her eyes.

She was still stroking her pet – which seemed to love it if Rei understood correctly the soft sounds he was doing.

"I don't know."

"I have lot of interests."

"I see that. I wouldn't have thought that you would occupy your free time like this, feeding and taking care of guinea pigs."

"Why not?" Minako replied, on the defensive. "They're calm, all is calm there." She lowered her eyes, looked at the pet she was holding. "All is simple with them," she whispered.

Rei looked around her. It wasn't what she would call a peaceful place, but she felt that Minako loved it.

"Why are you here?" Minako asked, her voice strong again.

"I wanted to give you your homework."

Minako watched her with suspicious eyes.

"You did? We've met only yesterday."

"So?"

"Nothing. Is there things to do?"

"Yes."

"Math?"

"Yes."

"You can keep it and ditch it somewhere. We officially never met today. Got it?"

Rei rolled her eyes.

"Are you always so childish?"

"Are you always so cute?"

"Wh…What?"

"So, something new from school?"

"What? No."

Damn, Rei had trouble keeping tracks of the conversation.

"I was sure Sakura and Ken would be an official couple after the party. Are you sure they're not?"

"I don't care."

"You're really no fun. Do you want to meet Soleil?"

"Huh?"

Minako smiled and showed her the pet she held cradled in her arms.

"Soleil. That one is mine. When I was ten Etso declared I was old enough to adopt my own guinea pig. He let me choose among the newborns. Soleil is almost 6, which means he's a senior now. A grand-father. He's a Texel, see? Like these ones. Isn't he cute? Do you want to hold him?"

"Huh… no thanks."

"Guinea pigs almost never bite, you know. Well, he could pee on you, but that would only be because he's happy."

"Of course. No thanks."

Minako giggled and put her little friend in his enclosure. Rei was astonished. Minako could act like a mischievous and arrogant teen one minute and the next she could talk with the innocent enthusiasm of a 6 years old. It was rather… cute, but a little disconcerting.

Sometimes she was sure that the girl had multiple personalities. That would explain a few things.

"Come on."

Rei followed Minako in the garden before they went into the house. An old man was sleeping on his couch, his glasses askew on his nose. Minako smiled and slowly woke him up.

"Etso?"

"Mina? What? What happened? You didn't do anything to my kitchen, did you?"

He sat down and Minako giggled.

"Of course not, I did that once and it was years ago! I just wanted to say that I've fed them all, and that I've noticed that Otto wasn't well."

"Yeah. He's getting really old. Poor little guy."

"I'm sorry."

"I know," smiled the old man. He was stout and had a round face with pink cheeks under a few white and grey hair. His soft brown eyes fell on Rei. "Well," he said, surprised, "you've brought a friend, Minako? That's a first."

The girl seemed embarrassed, but it was only for a second.

"That's Reiko."

"Rei."

"Tsk, I'm making the introductions. Reiko, Etso. Etso, Reiko."

"I'm astonished to meet someone capable of supporting that young one's energy and her character. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

"So, we'll be going. See you in a few days, Etso!"

"Of course. Take good care of yourself, Minako."

"As always!"

She winked, smiled and closed the door behind her. Rei walked beside the cheerful girl for a few minutes before she decided to break the silence.

"How did you meet Etso?"

"We've known each other for two days and you're already asking personal questions? You're bolder than I thought, Reiko."

Something had changed. Rei traded carefully.

"I'm sorry. That's true. Nevermind."

"If you really want to know, when I was a child I loved to go for walks and exploring the world. One afternoon I went too far, I got lost and I found myself here. That was the beginning of a great friendship. Etso is special. He talks with animals and he offered me light."

Rei blinked, and looked sideways at Minako, expecting to see her with a teasing smile on her face. But the girl didn't seem to be kidding. There hadn't been humor in her voice, only soft fondness. She must have mean something only Minako herself could understand with that statement, so Rei didn't dwell too much on it.

Minako, however, didn't look really happy with her own words, as if she hadn't meant to say them. She was suddenly tensed, solemn, like the ghost of the girl Rei used to know. It was… heart wrenching.

Minako stopped walking. Her gaze was hard, distant suddenly, and her voice was rather cold despite its politeness.

"Look, Reiko, I don't know why you've come here. It's not that I don't appreciate your… kindness," she hesitated with the world, as if she wasn't sure it was the good one, "but I really don't need more homework and I don't really like people to come to my house without calling me first. I'm rarely there, you know, I have a lot of acquaintances who love to party, you see, and I have many hobbies that take my free time. So next time, don't bother. Thanks anyway, and give my salutations to your friends, including the loud and impolite one!" She winked, turned left and smiled. "There's a bus stop in the street on your right. Bye bye!"

And she left, without waiting for Rei to answer and seemingly dismissing her like she was a simple employee or worse, a groupie.

Of course Rei didn't appreciate it.

In fact, she was fuming.

She didn't like the fact that she was even more floored by Minako's behavior than before, despite the fact that Rei knew more than Venus this time around.

She wasn't sure she liked Minako's way of life either, even if it wasn't really her business. And she was sure she didn't like the rumors about Minako that were whispered by all their classmates and more.

But, at least, Minako apparently hadn't been at the hospital this day like Rei feared, and she seemed well enough. Maybe she just hadn't had the courage to go to class this morning, so she had just decided to sleep in and let her alcohol induced hangover be healed that way, like the spoiled heir she was.

Yeah, Rei could totally see her do that.

And it was better that way, wasn't it?

Rei preferred Minako as a rich and arrogant brat than as a sick, know-it-all and dying idol.

But the feeling that was enclosing her heart bothered her.

She felt like she had just lost Minako all over again.


Minako was secretly angry.

She just didn't understand that girl.

She didn't even know her! Why the hell did she bring her her homework? Here? Only one person had come to her house. One! And it had been Asaki.

God, Minako missed him.

She ground her teeth together and pushed the thought of her late friend out of her mind. Damn that miko! It was all her fault! And what Hayao had been thinking? Her orders had been simple, he shouldn't have tell her where she was! It had always been like that! Ah! Minako bet he wanted her to make friends. His big heart would cost him his job if he couldn't restrain himself.

Minako had only three places where she loved to be, where she felt almost at home. At Etso's house, at Hitomi's house and in the little church near the hospital where she loved to go to think or to be alone.

That was it. And she refused to see these three places totally unknown to her parents being corrupted by the knowledge of too curious and stubborn Shinto priestesses!

It annoyed her greatly that she couldn't control Rei Hino like she could control everybody else. It annoyed her greatly that she couldn't really read her strong aura, especially since Minako thought that maybe she herself was the problem, because Kino and Mizuno were difficult to read as well. Granted, they both had that bright and special aura, like Reiko… That was weird. And Minako was sure that their loud friend would be the same.

Four girls with auras that powerful and shiny who happened to be friends? Very unlikely.

And Minako certainly didn't believe in coincidences.

She didn't like the fact that she didn't understand, and she didn't like the fact that they seemed interested in her. Minako had kept her secret since she understood that she wasn't like everybody else and since her parents had had the bright idea to make her go consult a specialist. One thing was certain, Minako had learned quickly to hide the fact that she could feel auras and other's emotions or states of mind. She hadn't wanted to spend her short life in an asylum, and it was still the case.

Life was too interesting.

It wasn't really fun or nice. It was… black and white and all the shades of grey in between. It was spicy and cold.

It was like Minako herself.

She liked it that way, even if sometimes she was so disgusted and angry with it that she was almost glad that it would be over soon.

But as much as she liked life, Minako really wasn't fond of surprises.

Miko and friends wanted something from her and whatever it was Minako wasn't going to give it easily. She'll have to keep her distance. She didn't even know why she had told the girl all this. And why did she tell her about Etso? That was out of her mouth before she could think to shut up. Minako was an expert at talking, at manipulating, how she could be so easily distracted by that girl?

Besides the fact that she was stunning. And despite her warm aura that made her heart tingling. And despite the kindness and strength that irradiated from her.

Oh yes, she had to stay away from that girl, especially because of the fact that when she was near her, Minako had a strange feeling of trust and safety in her mind and heart, as if she had known her for a long, long time. As if Rei was a…

But Minako didn't even know her! Impossible!

God, that was so infuriating! Minako had already so much to think! And the night was falling.

Well, she was too angry with Hayao to go home. Too bad for him, she wouldn't call him. He was used to her not coming home every night anyway. He knew about Hitomi too. Next time he'd say to her mother that she was going there sometimes and her mother would kill her and Minako would come back from the dead to have his head.

Nah. Hayao knew the importance of keeping that secret from her mother and father. They could initiate World War 3 after her death, she didn't care, but not now.

So… Hitomi. Minako needed a taxi.

Tomorrow was a school day. Too bad, Minako was planning to enjoy herself at a garden party some students from the nearby university were throwing all day. And after that, she had to go to the clinic.

She would have to practice her new song.

The children loved it when she played the guitar and sang a few things to them.

They loved her music, it brought smiles on their faces, and their innocent joy and amusement in the middle of their darker feelings of little sick children brought a smile in her heart, too.

She loved the reciprocity.

And maybe she could forget about the miko. And about her aura. And her beautiful eyes.

God, that was so frustrating!

Little did she know, it was only the beginning.


So, to explain some things about this chapter and Minako's background : I had to do with the little glimpses we got in PGSM that were all but logical.

Minako seems to live in hotels. Alone. At 14. Impossible to be emancipated at that age. Especially for a young idol with a fatal disease. (The same goes for Makoto, but I've always preferred to think that she had a legal guardian somewhere).

Contradiction to point 1, in Acts 15 and 22, Minako is with Artemis, in a house that is the propriety of the Aino family. Maybe it isn't in Tokyo, that would explain the hotel thing, but it's unlikely. We don't see her family, but she does say goodnight to somebody (Sugao maybe? Or someone else?).

When she is in the hospital, Minako is visited only by Shacho and Amachachi. Again, no family visible. Her manager seems to be the legal guardian in these situations, but we can also think that her parents are off-screen.

About sports now. I love Minako in the anime too, so in this fic, Minako loves volley-ball (of course) and video games, ping-pong (because the actress Ayaka Komatsu loves it), athletics (I think they do a lot of that in school in Japan) and motocross (because of the Special Act, where Minako drive a motocross with amazing skills).

A thing that I won't care about in this fic, in two acts, we see Minako wear a school uniform, but she says to Mio that she don't go to a school. She wouldn't have the time anyway, so she's surely home-schooled. So what about the uniform?

So, this is it for the explanations. If somebody has theories for these things, I'll be glad to read it.