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As much as it has been announced that pop-idol Aino Minako would be taking a short break after the debut of her fifth album, during which she would be attending the wedding of a close friend, her manager actually had a quite few different plans in mind. First, seeing as she had spend quite some time developing her career in Europe, it was about time that she returned to her roots, so to speak, and spent some time with her fans in Asia. Statistics showed that her sales might increase by 30% if she made several prominent appearances on Japanese television. And before the wave died down she would carry it with her to North America.
Not that Minako ever listen attentively to her manager when it came to statistics. But this time she didn't argue with him only because it gave her the rare opportunity to visit her home country along with her friends and former senshi. One in particular…
There were other reasons as well, though secretly Minako has to admit that these were less important. One was to solidify her suspicions regarding the type of relationship between two of her friends, on which Artemis refused to provide an affirmative or a negative. It wasn't just for the sake of her curiosity; her role as the leader, even during peaceful times, required that she kept a lookout for the senshi. Among the girls, Minako was the only one who believed that their powers weren't gone for good, that their status as senshi and princess would come back in the future, and due to the insaneness of the idea, she had kept it to herself.
The other reason was the dreams, memories to be precise, that she have regained since two months ago. She felt as though someone was trying to tell her something. Something important.
But now all these issues were pushed back; since the incident in 'Little Tokyo' a week ago, it was evident that new enemies have appeared and she must now focus all of her energy on the coming crisis. However somewhere in the back of her mind questions still lingered.
Absentmindedly glancing up at the clock, she suddenly snapped back to reality. She had been sitting on the couch for two hours already and with nothing accomplished. Her original plan was to create some lyrics for her new album, but her mind had taken her elsewhere. Sighing inwardly, she pulled out her cell and dialed a familiar number.
In a matter of seconds her new bodyguard, whom she got to know very well during the past week considering she was following her 24/7, entered her suite.
"Is it time already, Aino-san?" Yuki asked, pushing a short dagger into her coat pocket.
"Yes. Shall we?" Minako got off the couch; in two-steps time her bodyguard was beside her and snatched the paper from her hands.
"Now hold on," Yuki flipped through the blank pages with a frown. "This is all you've done since lunch?"
Minako grabbed the papers back angrily. "That's none of your business! You didn't get paid to check my homework."
"That's true," she stepped back defensively. "But Shacho-san did say that Aino-san's only allowed to stay in a hotel instead of the hospital and go out once a week on the condition that she gets some work done. We've been out for twice this week already, and you've only written two lines."
"I'll explain to Shacho when we get back," Minako rolled her eyes.
"Right on! And you know what happens? You get off, and I get trouble. Look Aino-san, I'm just doing my job here. Gimme a break and make this easy for both of us, please?"
Minako fell back into the couch. She closed her eyes for a second then sighed, "I can't. No inspiration, no ideas, nothing."
Yuki stared at her employer for some seconds, apparently having an inner battle with herself, then gave in. "Alright, alright. Only for this once."
Fumbling for several sheets of paper, she laid them out on the coffee table neatly. Minako took a casual glance through the musical notes and lyrics, her expression clearly confused.
"What's this? Am I seeing my own handwriting? You Copied My Handwriting?"
"Well, since the last time we snuck out and got caught, I've had a lot of time to think. See, I need Aino-san happy to keep my job, and I need Shacho-san for my paycheck. Simply speaking, I can't upset either of you. Now with these," Yuki pointed to the papers with pride, "Aino-san can go out and Shacho-san thinks that she is a good girl and did some work. Perfect, ne?"
The idol was lost for words.
"Now, we stick to the small streets and don't let me out of your sight. We come back safely and everybody's happy. What do you say?"
Minako only nodded, thanking the gods for giving her such an understanding and useful bodyguard.
Little did she know that her bodyguard was forming a few plans of her own.
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Motoki gently rubbed his index finger on Kamekichi's back, popping up his head with his other hand. Stealing a glance at the clock behind him, he shifted his position lazily to having his head lie on the counter.
"Ah…Minako-chan sure is late."
True to his words, the automatic doors leading into the Crown slid open. The girl before him wore a plain grey sweater with unadorned, but nevertheless stylish jeans. Minako lifted off her new black cap and lightly waved the year-long permit card in front of Motoki's eyes.
"Oh, I remember these," Motoki playfully snatched the card from her hands. "At first I couldn't believe that Luna made these even when Mako-chan told me so. Hey, remember the first time you came to the crown with this? You had such a pissed expression on your face."
"I guess that just wasn't my day," Minako replied, purposely not elaborating on the ugly argument that followed and how, even though she knew her words would hurt Rei, she was too stubborn to lose.
Minako took back her card—though it was not necessary anymore, it was a memory of the old times—and place it back in her bag, which, in contrast to her normal top-brand accessories, was a simple black knapsack.
Ever since the words spread about her 'relationship' with Rei, Sugao had been extra cautious that she didn't attract any attention whatsoever, cancelling many scheduled TV appearances and even going as far as getting her a whole wardrobe of new clothing—half of which Minako simply refused to wear. For Minako, clothing was a way of self-expression just like her music. Dressing unfashionably is as much of a pain as making Usagi do calculus all day.
"The others are waiting for you already." Motoki's words snapped the idol out of her reverie. It was becoming a habit since the day she woke up in the hospital and saw Rei watching her.
"I'll head down. By the way," she mentioned towards the girl standing behind her, "Is it okay for my bodyguard to stay in the lobby while I'm at it?"
Motoki glanced at Yuki and their eyes locked for a brief moment.
"No problem. The job's been boring today so I can use some company."
"Thanks a lot," Minako waved and disappeared into the senshi's reserved room at the Crown.
After a moment of silence, Yuki walked up to the counter.
"So, seems like you've recovered your memories after all."
"So it seems," Motoki answered in monotone.
"You got us worried for a while. We thought that something had gone wrong. Why didn't you drop by after you woke up?"
"I wasn't ready."
"Eh? What do you mean 'you're not ready'? The memories did come back, right?"
"It did, but everything's different from the past. Mako-chan loves me and not that other girl. I shouldn't blame her because her past-self was with Mako-chan a millennium ago."
"Oh," Yuki laughed sarcastically. "And what was the first thing you did after you woke up? Now, I could get this wrong cuz I overheard Aino-san talking on the phone, but you basically tackled her, didn't you?"
Motoki fell silent.
His companion continued, "Don't be so naïve thinking that what happened in the past won't repeat itself. Look at the Princess: falling in love with the Prince of Earth and destroying the planet all over again. Just because you've got your Mako-chan fallen head over heals for you now doesn't mean that it's gonna stay like that."
"It's not like that!" Motoki protested. "I just…if Mako-chan tells me one day that she doesn't love me anymore, then I'll let her go. It's what it means to love someone, after all."
There was a brief moment of hesitation. "What's this? Has your life as Furuhata Motoki the wimp gotten too much in your head? You sound nothing like the hothead general from Jupiter, the Commander Motoki I knew!"
"What about you? If anyone changed it would be you! You're almost the opposite of who you used to be," Motoki countered.
Yuki turned away, gazing at the doorway which Minako had entered seconds before. "In my case, I've decided that giving up once is enough. You know that I never believed in fate. So this time I'm going to decide my own fate.
"This might be off-topic," she continued, "but up until recently I didn't remember anything about Venus. I mean I knew she was a senshi and all, but I never thought about her in that way. Only after we met did it slowly begin to come back to me. Actually, it just started a week ago. And you, you're almost my mirror image: you've been with Jupiter for so long and yet you just remembered the Silver Millennium. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I know it might be hard to accept your past identity in the beginning, but trust me, it'll become a part of you."
"Maybe my past will become natural for me eventually, but I'm Furuhata Motoki and nothing will change that."
"Well, if you ever change your mind about things," she handed him a small note, "This is where Svetu lives."
Motoki looked the address over and stuffed it in his back pockets. He knew he had no use of it, and after the girl left he would dispose it in its proper place: the garbage can.
Deciding that she should stop pressing the topic, Yuki pushed herself off the countertop. "So, is there something that I can help you with?"
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"MINAKO-CHAN!"
Usagi had ran up to her to moment she stepped into the room, and in her over-excited and jumpy state, almost tackled her over.
Ami, in sharp contrast, only exchanged a small greeting and went back to work on the computer. When Minako gave Usagi a confused frown, the pigtailed girl only shrugged.
"Don't know what's going on. Ami-chan's been working days and nights on this program. She wouldn't talk to anyone!"
"A program?"
"Or something like that. What else could take so much time and concentration to do?"
Minako returned the shrug and took her seat around the table, knowing that it was better not to disturb her friend right at the moment. When Ami was ready, she would announce her project to everyone.
"So has a date been decided yet?" Minako took a sip of her drink, which, to her delight, always matched her senshi colors.
"A week from Saturday." Usagi clapped her hands together happily. "I'm sooo glad that everyone could stay for Mako-chan's wedding, even though we missed the original scheduled date because Motoki-kun was still too weak to move around. Luna too! She was worried about the new enemies, but said that we should have the wedding!"
"Where are the others?" Minako looked around the rather empty room.
"Oh, see, since we're supposed to be planning Mako-chan's wedding, she wouldn't be here because I want it to be a big happy surprise to cheer her up after what happened to Motoki-kun. Ami-chan hasn't said a word since morning. And Rei-chan was supposed to come, but she called earlier telling me that she couldn't make it."
"So it's just the two of us?" Minako's heart sank, and she couldn't help sounding a little down.
Her companion, however, took no notice of it. "Yep! I'm so glad you could make it today because I thought of so many ideas last night and…" Usagi dug around her bag and produced a huge piles of papers. "Ta-da! See, this is the list of activities, and this is for the decoration, and…Oh! Did I tell you? We're having the wedding at Rei-chan's temple."
"Rei's temple?" Her heart gave another throb. "Didn't Makoto say she wanted a church?"
"Well, since we missed our scheduled date and it's too late to make another reservation, we had to settle for second best. But with me, the soldier of love and parties, this wedding is going to be one that they'll never forget!"
Looking from her over-enthusiastic princess to the long grocery lists piled on the table, Minako had little doubt about that, though she wasn't sure if it would be memorable in a good way. But she would never voice it aloud to Usagi.
"Alright Minako-chan! Let's get to work! First we'll need some lights and flowers, and then probably some balloons too. Oh, and we definitely need tables and chairs. Furniture's the only thing Rei-chan doesn't have enough of. What about…"
Watching her determined yet clumsy movements, Minako couldn't help but smile. Slowly her spirits lifted too as she worked along side her princess and friend. Perhaps for the first time, thoughts of Rei disappeared into the back of her mind.
Temporarily.
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Usagi sighed contently, "I can't believe we were so productive today—well, for me at least. I could never sit still for an hour! But I'm sure you have to work hard like this everyday." She yawned, "Ah…it's sure tough being an idol."
Walking alongside her in the Juuban area—for Usagi didn't quite felt like going home yet—Minako only smiled and made no further comments. Her bodyguard, however, didn't hold back her snicker.
"You'd be surprised, Tsukino-san."
"Really? But Minako-chan definitely does her best all the time! Ne?"
"Sometimes, I guess you could say. Other times, however…"
Her employer gently jabbed her warningly. Pretending to not take notice, she continued, "Other times she blames it on her lack of inspiration."
"I do not!" Minako countered.
"And this morning?"
"That wasn't an excuse. I had nothing in my mind."
"Well, that's news to me! Wait a minute, have I heard you say that before? Last night, definitely, and yesterday morning. Let me see…" Yuki started ticking off each of her fingers as she named another instance. "I don't know boss, but I'm running out of fingers."
"I'm warning you," Minako replied in a low voice. "If you want this job…"
"Hey, I want the job! But if I were you, I wouldn't threaten the person who did me huge favor just four hours ago."
The dialogue bounced back and forth. Usagi watched them quietly, feeling increasingly agitated. Something felt wrong, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The conversation sounded more like one she would expect from two former senshi.
As they walked past a fast food stand, Usagi's stomach issued a rather conspicuous complaint. The bickering timely stopped and the trio broke into a fit of laughter.
Opening her purse to get some cash, Usagi said, "I guess I better buy some food. Your body knows what you need and when you need it."
"Sounds like you're quoting someone," Minako observed, knowing the answer already.
"Yep! That's our Ami-chan for you!"
Contently munching on her hotdog, Usagi turned to Minako. "Say, I've been worried about Ami-chan. She's working like a maniac! Well, she is a workaholic when she gets down to it, but it's not like her to not tell us what's going on. Something's not right, I'm sure of it."
Minako reflected on her time at the crown. The computer noises never ceased from the moment she stepped in till the moment she stepped out. Ami only nodded when they bid her goodbye, but Minako doubted she heard them at all. It was as if the girl had retreated to the times before she became a senshi.
Taking a mental note of this, Minako resolved to ask Artemis tonight, only to realize that the plush cat had taken a few actions on his own.
"Usagi?"
"Hmm?"
"How's Ar…um, you know? How's he doing?" Minako restrained herself from sounding the cat's name, realizing that her bodyguard was walking right next to her. It would sound awkward, if not suspicious, that she should question the well-being of a toy.
"Who?"
"You know…" Minako didn't know how else she could make it clearer.
Conveniently, Yuki excused herself to the restroom, and the two senshi were left by themselves.
"I'm glad you asked," Usagi answered after the idol clarified her question. "He's getting pretty grumpy lately. Luna said the only thing he mutters is what good does he get for following around Venus all day. Seriously, what happened between you guys?"
Minako looked away guiltily. "That time when Rei and I got off the plane we were in such a hurry and I simply forgot to take him with me. It's the first time that I just left him behind. Guess he's not taking it very well."
"No wonder! When I got home the day you came back, he was sitting on my doorstep all muddy and out of breath because he had came all that way from the airport by himself! He looked so outraged and even said he'll never see you again," Usagi laughed. "I'm sure he's just overreacting, but an apology would probably help."
"I guess so, but I haven't got a chance to talk it out with him. He's been hanging around your place all the time."
Usagi paused for a bit, then blurted out, "I bet he's jealous!"
"Nani?" Minako's eyes grew wide. "Why?"
"I'm sure you know." Then she added, a gleam of amusement in her eyes, "Just think: you forgot him on the plane, but you definitely remembered to take someone else with you!"
Watching how uneasy her friend was becoming, Usagi mentally confirmed her doubts. She would be blind not to notice how much Rei and Minako's relationship had developed over the past years, even though they probably had almost no chances of meeting face to face. But just considering that Rei, who, after many pleas from her friends, refused to turn away from her meditations and return to Tokyo, not only came back for Makoto's wedding but arrived ten days in advance just because Minako was also coming back. That was evident enough.
Saving the idol from the awkwardness, Usagi said casually, "Ah…Where did Yuki wander off to? It's getting dark and Mamo-chan's probably waiting for me with dinner ready."
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When Minako stepped into her hotel that evening, she was confronted with perhaps the most extraordinary event of her life.
There, sitting in the lobby, was Hino Ikeda, one of the senators that dominates Japanese politics. The busy politician who had no time for his daughter was spending his precious time waiting for her. In person.
Before she could react, the man was already shaking her hand warmly.
"Aino-san, correct? I'm Hino Ikeda. It is truly an honor to meet you."
Minako exchanged a few lines of formality with him out of practice, though her mind was swarmed with questions. The possibility of Senator Hino visiting her was already slim, let alone being so, how shall she put it?—forward and affectionate.
The conversation lasted for a minute but nothing registered her mind. Her body was on autopilot while her brain searched for possible explanations.
"Now, if it's no trouble for you, it would be a pleasure to have you dine with us tonight. Nothing fancy—just a small family meal."
Finally the words clicked in her head and Minako couldn't suppress her gasp. This was off her list of reasons by a long shot. But Hino was a man she couldn't refuse, so she politely accepted on the condition that her Shacho-san gave her permission.
Five minutes later she entered the politician's black limo, wondering where this night could possibly lead to.
To be continued…