========
Aino Minako and Her Amazingly Fabulous Search For A Boyfriend
A Minakofic
Authors: Moogle (moogle@fanforce.net)
Kate B (kateb@moonromance.com)
========
We own nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, except the hair-brained plot that Minako has
gotten thrown into, this time. Please, PLEASE don't attempt to claim this as your own work.
Truth is, it's taken us months to get this far, and it's only chapter four!
Once again, this fictional work is PG-13. After all, is any hokey teen romance ever anything
LESS?
***
The long, slender white cat yawned and stretched out to his full length on the
windowsill. Ah, what a pleasant day it is to be a cat, he thought languidly to himself as
he blinked open his blue eyes just long enough to glance out the window. Across the street,
he could see his elderly neighbor blindly sweeping her front porch while her grandson - the
sweet child he was - mowed the lawn. A few children were playing hockey in the street,
using garbage cans and boxes as nets. Some crazy-looking blonde chick was running around,
waving a newspaper and -
Crazy looking blonde chick? Artemis nearly fell off his perch. "What NOW?" he
groaned to himself as he watched Minako run up the sidewalk and across her mother's flower
bed. The front door slammed, and he sweatdropped. "I SWEAR," he muttered, "if this is
another of her flaky schemes, I will - "
"Guess WHAT, Artemis!" shrieked the blonde girl as she skidded into her bedroom
and tossed a newspaper down on the bed. Her peasant-style white blouse was absolutely
disheveled, no doubt from her breathless jog down Main Street.
The cat sighed. For the first time in his life, he seriously considered quitting his
job, settling down with Luna, and having a few litters of kittens before taking his trip to
the giant catnip farm in the sky.
Minako bounced around the room maniacly, so he finally rolled his eyes and bit
the bait. "What, Mina-chan?" he questioned of his charge.
Holding up the newspaper, Minako beamed. It was, of course, the personals page that
she was clutching in her fists, with one of the personals - one right in the middle -
circled in red ink. "Read it!" she commanded her pet, obviously proud of...something.
"Single Japanese female in search of single male," he read aloud, deadpan. "Enjoys
lounging on beaches, playing volleyball, becoming an idol, and punishing evil doers. I'm
5-foot-1 and..." He blanched. "...wear a 36D. Call 555-8716 and ask for V-chan!"
Sighing wistfully, Minako fell back on her bed, cradling the paper to her chest.
"Isn't it beautifully done, Artemis?" she asked of her pet, staring idly at the ceiling.
"It's just the perfect thing I need to search for a boyfriend."
His eyes blossomed, and he found himself blinking at her several times. She was...
That personal was from... She wore a...
"WHAT?!" he gaped, finally recovering from his shell-shock. "That's YOUR personal
ad?!"
The teen arched an eyebrow. "Duh," she responded, as though it was the most obvious
thing in the world. "I mean, who else could it be?"
Artemis just shook his head.
"Oh boy."
***
Mission IV: The Personal Ad
***
"You WHAT?!" blinked the brunette as she was handed a copy of that morning's Tokyo
Times. She stared dully at the highlighted, circled personal ad in the center of the page.
Luna's left eyebrow twitched slightly as she skimmed the presented information.
"'Punishing evil doers?'" she quoted skeptically, shooting an annoyed glance at the blonde.
"If I didn't know better, I would think you were TRYING to give away who you are..."
Eyes blossoming, Usagi looked up and down her bow-headed friend, giving her the once
over. Then, she screwed her face into a perplexed frown. "I don't believe for a moment that
you wear a 36D," she stated with a stern nod. "You're not THAT much bigger than me."
There was a thud as Minako, Makoto, and Luna ate dirt.
"WHAT??"
It had been an average morning in the park for Usagi, Makoto, and the talking cat.
There they sat, sinking in the sun's rays, not exactly waiting for anyone while waiting
for someone all the same. And it had been a fine time - at least, until Minako run down the
path with about seven copies of that day's newspaper. Yes, the day had lost its peaceful
splendor at that point.
And then, when they had each read the classified ad that the blonde had put out,
the day decayed even further.
Luna lept from her perch between the two unsuspecting Sailor Senshi and glowerd at
the white feline that had walked up a few seconds after Minako. "Are you DAFT, Artemis?" she
scolded like some sort of mothering demon. "Letting her do a hair-brained thing like this!
Do you KNOW what kind of creeps read the classified ads?"
As if on clue, a rather greasy, creepy-looking college boy who was standing ten feet
away pushed up his plastic-rimmed glasses on his pimply nose and nudged another, equally
seedy-looking guy. "Woo-hoo, check out the info on THIS chick!" he grinned, gesturing at the
newspaper he had clutched in his fist. "I betcha I could get some major action from this
one!"
Sweatdropping, Minako put on the best "That was planned!" look she could and
shrugged. "There are plenty of lobsters in the sea," she informed the cat, unconcerned.
"Just because one is a creep doesn't mean they all are."
"Isn't it 'plenty of FISH in the sea?'" corrected the brunette patiently.
"That's what I said!"
Another thud.
Picking herself up from off the ground, Usagi rolled her eyes. "Why in the world do
you keep doing stupid things like this, anyway?" she yelled at the other blonde, finally
fed up. "If you knew what Ami and Rei were doing for you right now, why - "
Makoto lept to her feet and covered the pigtailed girl's mouth as quickly as she
could. "Wow, look at the time!" she grinned nervously, pursing her lips. "I promised
Usagi-chan that I would show her how to work her mother's new food processor! Ja!"
With a cloud of dust, the two Senshi were gone.
Minako frowned. "What was that all about?" she questioned of the cats, glancing at
her feet.
Artemis paused, pursed his lips, and for a moment, said absolutely nothing. Then,
he smiled encouragingly. "You'd better rush home!" he told his charge with all the
excitement he could muster. "After all, someone might call while you're out!"
Luna sighed as the blonde ran off, waving her arms and grinning insanely. "One of
these days, you are going to be VERY sorry for all the dumb things you keep letting her do,"
she reproached.
He nodded and exhaled, defeated. "Don't I know it?"
***
"I'm sorry that we can't be having tea," sighed the elderly woman as she cupped her
hand in her cheek and smiled in the direction of her two visitors. "My grandson is out at
the supermarket, fetching me teabags and the other items I need for the week." She sighed
wistfully. "He's such a thoughtful boy, always willing to do something kind for his poor
old grandmother."
Rei chuckled uncomfortably, shifting not under the sightless gaze of the old woman
but of the two monsterous dogs that were curled up at the woman's feet. "Our friend said
that you're very kind," she addressed the woman cautiously, "and we wanted so much to meet
you and that grandson of yours..."
The woman laughed freely and tossed her long, gray hair. "You can't fool me, girl,"
she teased, wagging an accusing finger at the raven-haired miko. "You're after my Asai,
and I can't blame you. All the girls are, it seems. Even your young friend, Art, seems to
really have developed a liking to my grandson."
With a choked snort, the black-haired one pursed her lips and nodded. There was a
small bought of silence. "Do you think that Asai needs a girlfriend?" she questioned
cautiously, not wanting their mission to seem too obvious.
"If you're asking if he's lonely, then yes," nodded the woman. "If you're asking
if he's perfect for some girl, then yes. But, unfortunately for you two, the position has
already been filled."
The floor shook with the impact of the facevault.
Ami-chan, who seemed always the first to recover from these things, sprang to her
feet and gave the strange old woman a puzzled - and horrified - look. "You mean that
Asai-kun HAS a boyfriend?" she gaped, completely confused by the train of thought that had
just taken place. "You JUST SAID that - "
"Yes, you're right, I said that Asai is lonely and needs to find a girl to be with,"
nodded the blind woman with a small, almost sad smile. "But there's this nice girl, a young
girl, who lives across the street from me and down just a bit. She's very nice - a little
flakey at times, but very, very nice."
"You don't mean..." blinked Rei, as if she was just starting to get it.
Ami's jaw dropped open. "It couldn't be..."
The woman leaned back in her armchair and sipped slowly out of a glass of water.
"Now, what was her name?" she questioned thoughtfully. "Aino Minako? Yes, I think that is
right. Aino Minako-chan, first year of high school."
Lighting up, the priestess nearly bounced into the old woman's lap. "That's
fantastic!" she grinned excitedly. "You see, we're friends with Min-MPHF!" She suddenly
found herself struggling to speak through the death-grip that Ami had adhered to her lips.
"Mineiya," put in the blue haired one quickly, hoping that the woman wasn't sharp
enough to tell that Rei was thrashing and fighting under her hand. "Kiko Mineiya, a very
nice brunette girl from Juuban. However, if you're certain the position is filled, then..."
"Definitely," nodded the older woman decidedly. At almost the same time, the front
door opened and Asai - garbed in his volleyball shorts and a T-shirt - strode into the
living room and smiled apologetically toward the group.
Ami thanked her lucky stars that he didn't recognize either her or Rei, and that
he didn't question the odd picture the two Senshi made.
The woman grinned and stood slowly. "Now I can make you two your tea!" she beamed
in a grandmotherly way, instinctively stepping over her dogs and starting toward the
hallway. "You two girls wait right here; I'll be back in no time."
As soon as she was out of the room, the black-haired teen kicked her friend in the
shins and squeezed out of her half-nelson. "What the Hell was that for?" she roared, her
voice alone shaking the walls.
"I just want to know more about Asai and why he's so perfect for Minako," stated
Ami plainly, bending down to pat the head of one of the dogs. Rei shot her an odd look, and
she rolled her blue eyes. "If we just let her know that we want to fix Minako-chan up with
the same person, we'll never get to the depths of Asai's REAL moral character." She pulled
her glasses out of her breast pocket and rested them on the tip of her nose. "This,
Rei-chan, is what we call investigative work."
Her glasses flashed white as she adjusted them, setting them perfectly on the
bridge of her nose.
The miko sighed. "You're enjoying this WAY too much," she lamented, shaking her
head.
Ami smirked, her smile almost evil in nature. "Nah," she responded nonchalantly.
"Not TOO much."
***
The clock ticked.
And ticked.
And ticked.
And ticked.
And -
Well, you get the idea.
Minako groaned and rolled over from her back to her stomach, staring dully at the
cordless phone in front of her. It was a cute little Hello Kitty phone she had picked up at
the Sanrio store just a few weeks before, all pink and girly with little flowers and stars
and smiling Kitty-chans on the front. As the minutes passed by, however, it became an object
of her mockery, the Kitty-chans grinning up at her in their own, private mirth, as if
saying, "Ha, you pathetic loser! You lied about your bra size and you're STILL not big
enough to win a guy!"
Cursing, she picked up the phone and flung it at the wall. Unfortunately, she missed
the wall and threw it through the open window and onto the street below.
Artemis flinched as he heard the familiar sound of cracking plastic. "It's only
one in the afternoon on the first day of a week-long run," he informed the blonde with his
most encouraging cat smile. "I mean, a lot can happen in the next week, and there's a
VERY good chance that - "
"Shut up," moaned Minako as she rolled off her futon and started poking around under
her bed to find her orange rotary phone, which she had replaced the week before. "I know
that you think I'm totally stupid, and I don't really blame you. In fact, I'm starting to
think you were right all along."
The cat would have done a victory dance had the phone not rung at THAT VERY MOMENT,
cutting off any coherent thought or responce he would have had. Dropping the now-useless
Hello Kitty base, the blonde dove for her phone and picked it up with the most charming
grin she could muster.
"V-chan here! Talk to me!"
And then, her grin dissolved into a thoroughly pissed-off frown.
"No! This is NOT the Hayume residence!"
CLICK!
Blanching, the cat shrugged his shoulders. "You have a whole week," he reminded her,
smiling beneath his sweatdrop. "A week is a VERY long time. For all you know, you could
wake up tomorrow morning and have sixty responces to your ad sitting on the answering
machine."
"I could also wake up tomorrow and have a pig's snout," she quipped with a toss of
her head.
Artemis sighed and resigned himself to lay, dejected, on the windowsill. Why was he
letting her bother? He thought of the woman down the street and of Asai-kun, and how happy
he KNEW she would be if she just would have the chance to hook up with him. They were
perfect for each other, he knew... Well, at least he he guessed so... and hoped so... and
prayed for it to BE so...
He gulped and raised his head, glancing up at the blonde. She was still staring at
the phone, hopeful and yet hopeless at the exact same time. "Listen, Minako-chan," he began,
trying to think of a nice way to come clean with all the plots and things he had been up to,
"I think I know a guy who - "
The phone rang, cutting him off. Minako rolled her eyes and picked it up, mouthing
the words "One minute" as she did so.
"This is not the Hayume resi - What? Yes, I placed that ad in the paper. V-chan,
right? That's me."
Her pet's eyes blossomed. "Oh no..." he groaned softly to himself. "Someone actually
ANSWERED that thing..."
A stuffed animal came flying in his direction, and he suddenly knew he hadn't said
that statement quietly enough.
"Mmm-hmmm? Really?! Yes! Of course! What? Oh, I know exactly where that restuarant
is! At five? Great! I'll be there!"
Hanging up the phone, Minako flashed her cat the "V-for-victory" sign. "Aino
Minako's amazingly fabulous search may have come to fruition!" she announced proudly. "I
have my very first date tonight!"
The cat sighed. "Just great..." he muttered.
Another toy animal beamed him upside the head. He looked up and Minako smiled back
at him, cutely. 'I need to mutter quieter,' he resolved.
***
Rei leaned over the countertop as best she could, kicking up one foot behind her as
she batted her eyelashes at the attractive young man across from her. "Are you sure you
don't need help putting away those groceries, Asai-kun?" she questioned in a falsetto tone,
winking as he glanced up from a stack of soup cans to glance at her. "They look so...
heavy..."
"No, thanks, Rai-SAN," he responded, emphasizing the respectful (and slightly
unfriendly) suffix as he spoke. Not to mention using the wrong name. "I think I've got it."
Ignoring his blatant botching of her name, she giggled sweetly. "Well, let me know
if you need help!" she chirped, toying with a strand of raven-colored hair.
He rolled his eyes and ignored her.
Sometimes, the miko had to curse Ami's ingenuity. The blue-haired genius had sent
her Shinto friend into the kitchen to do "investigative reporting". More specifically,
she had sent Rei to find out how Asai would react to some beautiful young girl throwing
herself at him. "After all, Rei-chan," she had scolded the miko as she shoved her into the
next room, "we want to be sure that he doesn't take advantage of Minako!"
"I'm sure that - " she had began before she stumbled over the kitchen rug and
landed, quite literally, at the volleyball player's feet.
So much for being subtle.
"What do you like in a girl?" she asked of him after a brief pause, hopping up onto
the kitchen counter. She crossed her legs at the knees and showed as much leg as possible,
her super-short school skirt not hindering the process in the least. "Do you prefer
cheerleaders, jocks, innocent school girls who have never had a date in their lives...?"
He arched an eyebrow at her. "I like girls who can make me smile and laugh," he
responded softly, almost as though he was a little embarassed. "I want someone who I can
play sports with sometimes... and cuddle with, other times. A good personality, a good
soul..." Blushing a bit, he ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I prefer a jock girl with
a feminine side," he chuckled before going back to the mini-cannery his grandmother had sent
him to purchase.
Rei frowned. It was almost too good an answer. "And what about a first date?" she
asked, leaning forward until she was certain she was giving him a bird's eye view of her
clevage. "Dinners? Movies? Dancing? What?"
Feeling as though he was on a rewind of Blind Date, he sighed. "I would take her out
to dinner and a movie, maybe dancing..." He shrugged. "I've really never had a serious
girlfriend, Rye-san. I want one, but..." Turning toward her, he shrugged. "None has really
ever hit my standards for the perfect girl, no matter how badly they may want to."
Blowing her bangs from her face, the Senshi crossed her arms over her chest. So much
for investigative reporting. "Obviously not," she mumbled, frowning. "You have some damned
high standards if you ask me..."
And then, she realized that Minako-chan met every one of those very standards...
***
"This one?"
"Why did we agree to help her?"
"Shush, Haruka."
"Oh, that's all fine and good for you. ACT as though you don't mind, yeah, because
you are all big on getting on Neo-Serenity's good side! I see how this is going! That way,
when the year 3000 rolls around, you'll be popular with all the guards and just be able to
get away with whatever the Hell you - "
"Haruka, do you WANT me to box your ears?"
".......no......"
"HELLO?! What do you guys THINK?!" Minako stomped a foot rather loudly on the tile
floor of the botique, and the sound echoed through the shop. Several other women - most of
them young and all of them quite stylish - turned to glance at the blonde standing in the
middle of the store. She was garbed in a tight, long black dress that left NOTHING to the
imagination. Emphasis greatly on NOTHING.
Kaioh Michiru, the senshi of the sea, brushed a strand of aquamarine hair from her
face and shook her head slowly. It was the thirteenth dress she had tried on, and yet...
"Definitely not, Minako-chan," she advised in a motherly tone, her hands on her hips as she
spoke. "It's far too low cut and tight. You don't want to give it all away on the first
date, do you?"
Her mate smirked wolfishly and winked at the blonde. "I don't know," she retorted,
moving to wrap an around around Minako's well-shaped hips. "I kind of like it. After all, it
does give it ALL away..."
Cuffing the sandy-haired woman on the back of her head, Michiru rolled her eyes. "Go
try that blue one on again, Minako," she told the bow-haired girl. "I really think that one
was the best on you."
"That one was BORING," contended Haruka. She would have pressed farther, but a glare
of death stopped her.
It was almost four in the afternoon, and Minako was starting to panic about her
impending date with the man who had answered her ad. He had said very little... In fact, the
only things she really new about him was that his name was Kenisho and he was from the
upper-class section of Tokyo. He hadn't left a number or any really tangible information.
She didn't even know his last name.
Sighing, she retreated into the dressing room and peeled off the black dress.
Calling Michiru for fashion advice had not been her first choice, but neither Ami nor Rei
had been home to go shopping, and she didn't want to interrupt Makoto's food processor
lesson with Usagi. She almost didn't mind spending time with the antagonistic Outer Senshi.
After all, Haruka was so bishounen, it was almost scary.
She slowly tugged the blue dress, which had been Michiru's favorite of the group,
back on and adjusted it over her form. It was knee-length with a tight, sparkly bodice and a
flowing, billow skirt. With a wrinkle of her nose, she smoothed the dress over her hips and
strode into the shop with the confidence and certainty of a goddess.
Haruka let out a long wistle, as if she had just taken a good, long look at the
dress. "I take it back," she smiled, almost drooling. "That IS a good dress."
The blonde teen blushed slightly and scuffed her feet together. "So much for boring,
ne?" kidded Michiru with a long-lashed wink, moving to circle Minako and give her a
once-over. "I think it's for you," she approved, nodding. "I really think it's for you."
"I think we shouldn't let her roam the streets in an outfit like that," put in the
sandy-haired motocross champ, suddenly edgy. She hadn't paused to think about the kinds of
weirdoes that lurked about the Tokyo streets at night. "It's not safe..."
"Don't worry so much, Haruka-san!" laughed Minako heartily. "I'm Venus-chan,
remember? I can handle it!"
The duo of Outer Senshi glanced wearily at one another as they watched their younger
friend fly towards the dressing room, her hair bouncing all the way. "I have a bad feeling
about this," sighed the taller woman, her hands in her back pockets as she spoke.
Michiru frowned and nodded slightly. "Sadly, so do I."
***
"I think Asai is a fine young man, ma'am, and I don't want you to think otherwise,"
Ami assured her newfound friend carefully, hoping and wishing and praying that she didn't
offend the older woman. "I am just really curious about who he is, inside. What makes him
tick, what he loves and adores, everything else." She adjusted her glasses. "After all, if
it fails with Minako, I would love to set him up with Minamei."
The woman frowned, arching an eyebrow questioningly. "I thought you said her name
was Mineiya," she observed, pursing her wrinkled lips.
Ami just barely avoided a massive facevault. "Yes, yes, Mineiya," she chuckled
embarassedly, brushing her hair from her face in a nervous motion. "I don't know why I said
Minamei. Slip of the tongue, I'm certain."
Her companion nodded, but it was obvious that she didn't believe the blue-haired
girl sitting across from her. "Well, I think that Asai is a fine boy," she explained,
sipping her tea as she spoke. "He's intelligent, sporty, and very quick-witted. Maybe a
little shy, but he's a good boy. Perfect for Minako-chan, I'm sure. I mean, don't you
agree?"
"Of course I agree!" grinned Ami happily, clasping her hands together on her lap.
"Minako and Asai are absolutely perfect for - "
"Minako? Don't you mean Mineiya? Or Minamei?" The old bag was smirking something
awful.
The young one blanched and pursed her lips. "Oops?"
Laughing, the elderly lady tossed her hair and smiled. Ami said nothing, staring at
her feet in terrible embarassment. "I knew you two were talking about Minako-chan as soon as
you walked in here," she told the genius with a wave of her hand. "Art talked so highly of
her and then you two, that I was sure you had the same thoughts I did. So why don't we all
join forces, work together to make both Asai AND Minako-chan very, very happy? What do you
say?"
Ami smiled and nodded eagerly. "That sounds great to me!" she agreed, taking off her
glasses and tucking them back into her pocket. "Joining forces will - "
There was a crash from the kitchen, and a few soup cans rolled into the living room.
"Asai!" called the elderly woman, rising slowly. "What in the world was that noise?"
Tripping out of the other room was a bedraggled, messy-looking Rei. A red welt was
forming over her eye as she strode into the living room.
"I wish I hadn't offered to help," she groaned, rubbing her eye.
Ami chuckled and said nothing.
***
Fudotoku Kenisho - much to Minako's ever-lasting horror - looked to be about forty
and dressed even older. Large, plastic-rimmed glasses sat heavily on his nose, and his
black, greasy hair was so well-lacquered into a perverse combover that the blonde wondered
if it was painted on. He wore a three-piece gray suit with a dotted bow tie, and when he
smiled, a shiver ran down the young woman's spine. He frightened her just a bit, and it
wasn't the kind of shiver you get when you go on a rollercoaster. This was REAL FEAR.
"So, Minako-chan, what posessed such a pretty young woman like you to place a person
ad in the paper?" questioned Kenisho after the waiter came with a basket of bread and left
with their dinner orders. His query came complete with one of his smiles, causing his date
to shudder just a little bit. "I mean, someone as beautiful as you... I wouldn't expect you
be single at all, let alone single AND desperate."
He laughed, and she forced herself to laugh with him before guzzling down her fifth
glass of water that evening. Why was it that being with him made her more nervous than
fighting Sailor Galaxia or meeting the Three Lights ever had? Placing down her cup on the
table, she shrugged and crossed her hands over her lap. "The boys at my school have never
really taken an interest in me," she admitted quietly, trying to decide how she should
respond to him. "I had a steady boyfriend when I studied abroad, in England, but I haven't
really become close to anyone since then." She paused, picking her words carefully. "I
really want to find the perfect guy and settle down. All my friends have boyfriends,
and..."
The blonde trailed off and into an awkward silence. Around them, the posh French
restaurant bustled with soft activity - busboys cleared empty tables while other patrons
discussed their jobs, their families, their lives... And in the middle of it sat a teenage
girl with some middle-aged stranger. Some SCARY middle-aged stranger, she added silently to
herself. Some VERY scary middle-aged...
"Losing someone you love is hard, I know," he nodded sympathetically, his eyes
glancing up and down her form. Minako shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It felt like he was
visually undressing her. "I can never seem to keep a girlfriend too long... Of course, they
all say I suffer from wandering eyes!" He laughed, and she smiled slighty and nodded,
reaching for her glass.
He seized her hand halfway there in a tight, and yet somehow gently, gesture. "But I
don't want to just look at you, Minako-chan," Kenisho whispered, his voice low, flinty,
seductive. "Let's leave this place and go back to my apartment for a drink. What do you
say?"
Minako panicked. Why hadn't she seen it coming?! He wasn't some kind-hearted
gentlemen from the lonely heart's club! He was a perverted old man looking for some stupid
teenager to take to bed.
She tried to tug her arm away, but he held fast. "Let go of me!" she moaned,
wrenching her wrist as hard as she could. His grip tightened further, and he twisted her
arm a bit.
"Minako-chan, let's not be rash," smirked Kenisho smugly. "I don't want the little
butterfly that I've caught in my web to break her wings."
Glaring at him, Minako's voice turned to a soft, angry growl. "The only broken
things here are going to be your balls," she informed him.
She shifted her weight and kicked him as hard as she could from under the table. He
yelled out in pain and moved to clutch his groin, doubling over in his chair.
And Minako ran from the restaurant faster than she ever had in her life.
***
Minako fled through the midnight streets, her high heels clicking loudly on the
pavement. It was not yet sundown, and pedestrians still dotted the sidewalk, mostly too
busy with their own business to pay any mind to the frightened girl in their midst. A few
turned to look at her, but before anything was said she had passed on her way, her face
dotted with tears as she ran.
She was a good eight or nine blocks from the restaurant before she finally collapsed
on a bus stop bench, gasping for air. The cool summer breeze mussed her hair as she dug in
her purse for a handkerchief. She didn't want to let herself believe what had happened, and
yet... She knew it had. There was no way to deny it... She had almost been had a man take
advantage of her.
"Can I sit here?" questioned a voice, and she glanced up to see a young woman
standing above her. Long, brown-gold hair hung in kind-hearted green eyes, and the blonde
was loathe to say no. Instead, she nodded timidly and scooted over to make room.
The stranger sat down, and for a moment, all was silent. Neither said a word; Minako
really didn't feel like venturing information, and the strange woman was obviously afraid to
say anything and, therefore, make and idiot out of herself. Finally, she smiled kindly. "All
dressed up with no where to go, eh?" she joked, winking at the blonde. "Or should I ask what
a pretty little thing like you is doing in a place like this?"
Minako laughed through a sniffle and shrugged her shoulders. "I had a date that
didn't go well," she replied helplessly, not knowing what more to say.
Nodding, the brunette leaned back onto the bench. "I totally can understand that
one," she agreed in a sympathetic manner. "I had a three-year relationship that didn't go
well." She chuckled. "I swore off love almost totally, but I think I'm ready to start
again."
The blonde's ears perked up. "Really?" she questioned. Her mind rejoiced at the
chance to talk to someone else about finding a boyfriend. "How are you planning to start up
again? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."
Her newfound friend shrugged. "I found this really great personal ad. Just great,
exactly what I want." Digging into her pocket, she pulled out a newspaper clipping and
handed it to Minako. "Tell me if this isn't just the perfect match."
Minako wiped her eyes and started to read. She got about halfway through before she
realized just what it was she had been handed.
"T-this..." The words caught in her throat. "This is MY personal ad!" she gaped,
dropping the sheet of paper onto the ground.
Blinking profusely, the brunette blinked a few dozen times. "I'll be damned!" she
grinned after a brief moment, bending to pick up her sheet of newsprint. "YOU'RE the chick
who I was going home to call! Of all the ironic happenings in - "
And then, she blinked again.
Minako, once again, had begun to run down the sidewalk.
***
He sighed and leaned back in his seat. It seemed that every time his grandmother
went to her "Braille Bingo Night," he was stuck sitting for the dogs until she came home.
Of course, it wasn't always such a bad deal. He got free food, as much soda as he could
drink, and utter silence to do his homework.
Which worked out, really, except this particular week he had absolutely no homework.
Asai groaned softly in utter boredom and leaned forward to grab the paper from the
countertop. "I doubt that Grandma will mind if I decide to do the crossword puzzle," he
mused to himself. He flipped through the front section, past the stock charts and the sports
scores (after checking the baseball rankings, of course), and then dove into the Arts and
Entertainment Section.
Unfortunately, as he moved to open the section of the paper, another section - the
classified ads - dropped to the floor. Rembrandt immediately latched onto the paper and
scampered out of the room with it, Maxwell in hot pursuit.
The teen groaned. "Dumb dogs," he muttered to himself as he pushed out his chair and
took off after them. A chase around the dining room table ensued until, ten minutes after he
had first lost the section of the paper, he recovered the drool-covered remnants of the
pages.
Glancing over what remained of the paper, he blinked. In the midst of the page, next
to a large hole (courtesy of Rembrant) was a note written in red pen. The note, of course,
was in his grandmother's familiar loopy handwriting. It read, "Have Asai call!!!" But all
that was left of the advertisement it pointed to were the last four digits of a phone
number: 8716.
He recognized the page as the personals and sighed, crumpling the paper into a ball.
"I really need to talk to her about this mission to find me a girlfriend," he muttered to
himself, tossing the paper into the garbage can. "I mean, first this 'nice girl' comes over
and she does nothing but talk about her CONSTANTLY, NOW this ad... What next?!"
***
Minako collapsed onto her bed in defeat and stared at the ceiling. "You don't need
to say a word, Artemis," she told her cat matter-of-factly, not even turning to look at him.
He had been following her around since she had gotten home, watching in silence as she
shoveled down a pint of ice cream and then changed into her pajamas. He would have followed
her right into the bathtub had she not locked him out of the bathroom. "You were right."
And now, she lay helplessly on her futon, her wet hair soaking her comforter as she
looked, teary-eyed, at the cracked paint above her. "Kenisho was, like, forty," she informed
her pet softly, not looking at him. "He tried to seduce me, and I ran. Then, I sat down on a
bench and met this really nice brunette chick who was just getting ready to go back into
romance after a bad break up. Of course, she picked ME as the person she wanted! ME! As if
I'm gay or something."
She rolled over and burried her face in her pillow. "Why aren't there any decent
guys in the universe, Artemis?" she moaned, her voice muffled by the feathery down of her
pillow. "Why can't I just find a nice boyfriend and settle down with him and - "
The phone rang, cutting her off. "Never mind," she groaned at the cat. "I don't want
to hear your wisdom, anyway."
Artemis frowned. "Minako, I'm not mad at you. I just want to - "
"Hello?"
There was silence as Minako blinked, listening intently to what was going on at the
other end of the phone connection.
"Hello?"
Silence...
"Listen, you pervert, I am NOT in the mood to deal with your adolescent
heavy-breathing shit! Get a life, buddy!"
She hung up the reciever with a clang.
Artemis sighed, frowning. "I really am not mad, Minako-chan," he told the girl,
leaping onto her bed and curling up beside her. "And I'm sorry that this has been so tough
for you. I knew something was wrong from the moment you walked in... And I'm just glad that
you didn't get hurt."
She smiled softly and reached down to pat her cat on the head. "I wish I could have
a boyfriend like YOU, Artemis."
He shrugged, smirking. "Eh, I do my best."
***
The next few days were so peaceful that they could be dubbed as uneventful. Rei and
Ami kept in constant contact with Asai's grandmother, who - after figuring out the girls had
no idea what to call her - had introduced herself as Shoga. Shoga, though blind, was proving
herself to be as sharp as a tack and super-intelligent, always coming up with ideas for how
to set up her grandson with her neighbor. Unfortunately for the three-person task force,
Minako's constant obsession with her still-running personal ad lead her to do nothing more
than sit in front of the phone.
Meanwhile, Usagi and Makoto tried desperately to find a way of stopping Minako's
amazingly fabulous search for a boyfriend. It seemed to be just that - a desperate (and
futile) attempt at the impossible.
It was the third uneventful day in a row after Minako's terrible date that the
blonde stomped into Rei's bedroom at the Shinto temple and dumped a bouquet of flowers onto
her bed. All the others, who had been holding a "religious study class" (which was the
codename for a "set up Minako with Asai seesion"), had barely had time to pull out a few
Bibles and a Torah before she barreled in. And she did BARREL in - she was one pissed off
Minako-chan.
Ignoring her friends, the teen walked across the tatami mats and bent down, seizing
her white feline by the scruff of his neck. "I've known for a LONG time that you've had a
sick sense of humor, Artemis," she growled at him, "but sending me flowers signed 'K'
really stoops to a new low!"
The cat sputtered, hardly able to breathe. "F-flowers?" he choked, struggling to get
away from her before she single-handedly could be billed as the cause of his death. "What
flowers?"
She tossed him on the bed and pointed, furious, at the dozen red roses she had
brought along. "THOSE flowers," she spat.
Sweatdropping, Ami scratched the back of her head. "Now, Minako, let's examine this
carefully," she gulped, not wanting to see the white pet killed in the next few moments.
"There is no proof that Artemis sent those flowers. It could be your mother, and the 'K'
could stand for 'Ka-san.'"
"Or it could be your friend Kari from England," put in Makoto helpfully, looking up
from the Bible she was supposed to be interested in (nevermind the fact it was upside down
on the table). "She sends you gifts a lot, right?"
Usagi grinned brilliantly. "Or it COULD be from Kenisho! You know, that guy you
went out with?"
The others all threw their various religious books at her.
Sighing, Artemis poked the flowers with his nose. "I'm really sorry, Mina-chan, but
I didn't send you any flowers." The helpless, apologetic look on her face was almost heart-
breaking. "But don't worry. I'm sure it IS Kari or someone else. After all, that Kenisho
jerk got his just desserts the other night, ne?"
The blonde nodded weakly, but somehow, Artemis was certain that she didn't believe
him in the least.
***
Minako tossed and turned in bed, victim of a fitful sleep and terrible dreams. Her
room was cold, empty, lonesome, and the thoughts of the strange roses still haunted her.
Why? How? So many questions, no answers...
She woke to the sound of footsteps on creaking floorboards. To her groggy half-awake
state, it seemed like nothing much, but -
"Mina!" hissed Artemis suddenly, leaping onto the bed in a frantic kitty-cat manner.
She sat straight up with a gasp, surprised by her pet's sudden action. "Mina-chan, there's
someone in the house!"
Her eyes blossomed. "What?" she gasped, staring at him in fright.
He nodded solemnly, his face screwing into a concerned scowl. "He's some sort of
washed-up, middle-aged burglar, I think," he told her, hopping down to peek out the doorway.
"Dressed all in black and armed with a crowbar. But he has the worst combover I have seen in
all my years! It's HIDEOUS."
For a moment, Minako was frozen. Combover? There was only one man she could think of
who would come to their house at night... Well, only one man with a combover, at least.
"Kenisho," she breathed, kicking off her covers as she spoke.
"WHAT?!" gaped Artemis, his whisper almost a small yell as he watched his charge
cross the room and head toward her dresser. "Do you think the flowers were from him, too?"
"I don't doubt it," she responded, pulling what appeared to be a small orange stick
out of her top bureau drawer. "But don't worry, Artemis; I'll clean his clock."
And then, with a smirk, she whispered, "Venus Crystal Power, Make-Up!"
***
"We've been trying to get this creep for months," sighed the police lieutenent
apologetically as Fodutoku Kenisho was lead into a squad car. He was bound with the normal
police-registered handcuffs, and a tightly-wound Venus Love Me Chain, as well. "He's known
for propositioning young teens like yourself, but we've never gotten anyone to positively
ID him well enought to take him in."
Minako smiled and tightened her bathrobe around her lithe form. For some reason, she
found herself blushing. "Well, I'm just glad that Sailor Venus was able to come to my
rescue," she chuckled embarassedly, acting like the schoolgirl she was. "I don't know what I
would have done without her!"
The cop nodded and smiled at her. "I never really believed in those Sailor Senshi
chicks until now," he admitted with a small shrug as he scribbled in the blanks on a
clipboard form. "It figures, doesn't it, that - "
"Minako-chan! Thank goodness you're okay!" cried a voice, and the blonde turned to
see Shoga stumbling across the street, with Maxwell all harnessed into his seeing-eye-dog
gear. The blonde chuckled at the sight the elderly woman made; she was wearing a raincoat
over her nightgown and looked positively ridiculous. "I heard the flashing lights, but I
couldn't wait for my grandson to come over! I just had to check on you!" She hugged the girl
tightly. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Chuckling, the teen shook her head. "No, he didn't," she told her neighbor gently.
"He just scared me a bit, that's all. Besides, Sailor Venus came to my rescue."
Shoga smiled in her "I know something you don't know" manner. "Why, my grandson has
been saved by Sailor Venus, too!" she grinned excitedly, her sightless eyes twinkling with
mirth. "If you could wait five or ten minutes, he'll be here. He's on his way from his home,
and - "
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," sighed the lieutenant, stepping in, "but Aino-san has to come
down to the station and fill out some papers for us. Maybe she can meet your grandson some
other time."
Minako was lead away by a few uniformed officers, calling a polite "So long!" to
her older friend.
The old woman scowled, her nose wrinkling. "So much for being in the right place at
the right time," she muttered.
***
Minako collapsed into bed at about six a.m., completely bushed from the night of
excitement. Even though she had left for the station at about two, all the red tape and
paperwork took so long that, by time she walked into the house, the sun was already touching
the horizon.
She sighed and settled into her covers, ready to sleep, when Artemis popped up and
sat down at her bedside. "I hope you've learned your lesson about meeting strange guys from
the paper," he scolded her in the most fatherly manner he could muster.
Rolling blue eyes, his charge nodded. "It's a dangerous business," she admitted with
a small nod, sick of hearing all his grousing about her boyfriend mission in the first
place. "I mean, you never do know what kind of sick you're going to find, even if guys like
Kenisho are one in a million."
The cat nodded. "Exactly. So, I take it you're giving up on this crazy plan of
yours, ne?"
With a sharp recoil, the girl sat up in bed and glowered at her pet. "Hell no!" she
shot back at him, as if she had never heard anything more ridiculous in her life. "I mean,
why in the WORLD would I want to give up?" She cupped her chin in a hand. "I just need to
think of something new and different, something that no one else in the WHOLE WORLD has
ever thought of before."
He scoffed. "I would like to see that done." After a pause, he sighed. "Mina-chan,
you have to realize that EVERYTHING you try is going to be something - "
He stopped as he saw the proverbial lightbulb dawn over her head. "I've got it!"
she announced loudly, pointing one finger in the air. "The perfect idea!"
Artemis blinked at her. "What NOW?" he groaned, afraid to even ask.
Minako leaned back into her covers, got all balled up, and smirked. "I'll tell you
in the morning."
The cat shook his head, not even sure that he wanted to know what she would think up
next.
"Oh, boy."
***
What next? Yeah, okay, we aren't quite sure yet either. Hey, co-authoring is fun, but there
are some downsides! But please e-mail us and let us know what you think.
Will Minako succeed? Will Ami, Rei, and Shoga succeed? Will Asai ever find out what's going
on right under his nose? Find out next time as Aino Minako and Her Amazingly Fabulous Search
For A Boyfriend continues!
-End
Aino Minako and Her Amazingly Fabulous Search For A Boyfriend
A Minakofic
Authors: Moogle (moogle@fanforce.net)
Kate B (kateb@moonromance.com)
========
We own nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, except the hair-brained plot that Minako has
gotten thrown into, this time. Please, PLEASE don't attempt to claim this as your own work.
Truth is, it's taken us months to get this far, and it's only chapter four!
Once again, this fictional work is PG-13. After all, is any hokey teen romance ever anything
LESS?
***
The long, slender white cat yawned and stretched out to his full length on the
windowsill. Ah, what a pleasant day it is to be a cat, he thought languidly to himself as
he blinked open his blue eyes just long enough to glance out the window. Across the street,
he could see his elderly neighbor blindly sweeping her front porch while her grandson - the
sweet child he was - mowed the lawn. A few children were playing hockey in the street,
using garbage cans and boxes as nets. Some crazy-looking blonde chick was running around,
waving a newspaper and -
Crazy looking blonde chick? Artemis nearly fell off his perch. "What NOW?" he
groaned to himself as he watched Minako run up the sidewalk and across her mother's flower
bed. The front door slammed, and he sweatdropped. "I SWEAR," he muttered, "if this is
another of her flaky schemes, I will - "
"Guess WHAT, Artemis!" shrieked the blonde girl as she skidded into her bedroom
and tossed a newspaper down on the bed. Her peasant-style white blouse was absolutely
disheveled, no doubt from her breathless jog down Main Street.
The cat sighed. For the first time in his life, he seriously considered quitting his
job, settling down with Luna, and having a few litters of kittens before taking his trip to
the giant catnip farm in the sky.
Minako bounced around the room maniacly, so he finally rolled his eyes and bit
the bait. "What, Mina-chan?" he questioned of his charge.
Holding up the newspaper, Minako beamed. It was, of course, the personals page that
she was clutching in her fists, with one of the personals - one right in the middle -
circled in red ink. "Read it!" she commanded her pet, obviously proud of...something.
"Single Japanese female in search of single male," he read aloud, deadpan. "Enjoys
lounging on beaches, playing volleyball, becoming an idol, and punishing evil doers. I'm
5-foot-1 and..." He blanched. "...wear a 36D. Call 555-8716 and ask for V-chan!"
Sighing wistfully, Minako fell back on her bed, cradling the paper to her chest.
"Isn't it beautifully done, Artemis?" she asked of her pet, staring idly at the ceiling.
"It's just the perfect thing I need to search for a boyfriend."
His eyes blossomed, and he found himself blinking at her several times. She was...
That personal was from... She wore a...
"WHAT?!" he gaped, finally recovering from his shell-shock. "That's YOUR personal
ad?!"
The teen arched an eyebrow. "Duh," she responded, as though it was the most obvious
thing in the world. "I mean, who else could it be?"
Artemis just shook his head.
"Oh boy."
***
Mission IV: The Personal Ad
***
"You WHAT?!" blinked the brunette as she was handed a copy of that morning's Tokyo
Times. She stared dully at the highlighted, circled personal ad in the center of the page.
Luna's left eyebrow twitched slightly as she skimmed the presented information.
"'Punishing evil doers?'" she quoted skeptically, shooting an annoyed glance at the blonde.
"If I didn't know better, I would think you were TRYING to give away who you are..."
Eyes blossoming, Usagi looked up and down her bow-headed friend, giving her the once
over. Then, she screwed her face into a perplexed frown. "I don't believe for a moment that
you wear a 36D," she stated with a stern nod. "You're not THAT much bigger than me."
There was a thud as Minako, Makoto, and Luna ate dirt.
"WHAT??"
It had been an average morning in the park for Usagi, Makoto, and the talking cat.
There they sat, sinking in the sun's rays, not exactly waiting for anyone while waiting
for someone all the same. And it had been a fine time - at least, until Minako run down the
path with about seven copies of that day's newspaper. Yes, the day had lost its peaceful
splendor at that point.
And then, when they had each read the classified ad that the blonde had put out,
the day decayed even further.
Luna lept from her perch between the two unsuspecting Sailor Senshi and glowerd at
the white feline that had walked up a few seconds after Minako. "Are you DAFT, Artemis?" she
scolded like some sort of mothering demon. "Letting her do a hair-brained thing like this!
Do you KNOW what kind of creeps read the classified ads?"
As if on clue, a rather greasy, creepy-looking college boy who was standing ten feet
away pushed up his plastic-rimmed glasses on his pimply nose and nudged another, equally
seedy-looking guy. "Woo-hoo, check out the info on THIS chick!" he grinned, gesturing at the
newspaper he had clutched in his fist. "I betcha I could get some major action from this
one!"
Sweatdropping, Minako put on the best "That was planned!" look she could and
shrugged. "There are plenty of lobsters in the sea," she informed the cat, unconcerned.
"Just because one is a creep doesn't mean they all are."
"Isn't it 'plenty of FISH in the sea?'" corrected the brunette patiently.
"That's what I said!"
Another thud.
Picking herself up from off the ground, Usagi rolled her eyes. "Why in the world do
you keep doing stupid things like this, anyway?" she yelled at the other blonde, finally
fed up. "If you knew what Ami and Rei were doing for you right now, why - "
Makoto lept to her feet and covered the pigtailed girl's mouth as quickly as she
could. "Wow, look at the time!" she grinned nervously, pursing her lips. "I promised
Usagi-chan that I would show her how to work her mother's new food processor! Ja!"
With a cloud of dust, the two Senshi were gone.
Minako frowned. "What was that all about?" she questioned of the cats, glancing at
her feet.
Artemis paused, pursed his lips, and for a moment, said absolutely nothing. Then,
he smiled encouragingly. "You'd better rush home!" he told his charge with all the
excitement he could muster. "After all, someone might call while you're out!"
Luna sighed as the blonde ran off, waving her arms and grinning insanely. "One of
these days, you are going to be VERY sorry for all the dumb things you keep letting her do,"
she reproached.
He nodded and exhaled, defeated. "Don't I know it?"
***
"I'm sorry that we can't be having tea," sighed the elderly woman as she cupped her
hand in her cheek and smiled in the direction of her two visitors. "My grandson is out at
the supermarket, fetching me teabags and the other items I need for the week." She sighed
wistfully. "He's such a thoughtful boy, always willing to do something kind for his poor
old grandmother."
Rei chuckled uncomfortably, shifting not under the sightless gaze of the old woman
but of the two monsterous dogs that were curled up at the woman's feet. "Our friend said
that you're very kind," she addressed the woman cautiously, "and we wanted so much to meet
you and that grandson of yours..."
The woman laughed freely and tossed her long, gray hair. "You can't fool me, girl,"
she teased, wagging an accusing finger at the raven-haired miko. "You're after my Asai,
and I can't blame you. All the girls are, it seems. Even your young friend, Art, seems to
really have developed a liking to my grandson."
With a choked snort, the black-haired one pursed her lips and nodded. There was a
small bought of silence. "Do you think that Asai needs a girlfriend?" she questioned
cautiously, not wanting their mission to seem too obvious.
"If you're asking if he's lonely, then yes," nodded the woman. "If you're asking
if he's perfect for some girl, then yes. But, unfortunately for you two, the position has
already been filled."
The floor shook with the impact of the facevault.
Ami-chan, who seemed always the first to recover from these things, sprang to her
feet and gave the strange old woman a puzzled - and horrified - look. "You mean that
Asai-kun HAS a boyfriend?" she gaped, completely confused by the train of thought that had
just taken place. "You JUST SAID that - "
"Yes, you're right, I said that Asai is lonely and needs to find a girl to be with,"
nodded the blind woman with a small, almost sad smile. "But there's this nice girl, a young
girl, who lives across the street from me and down just a bit. She's very nice - a little
flakey at times, but very, very nice."
"You don't mean..." blinked Rei, as if she was just starting to get it.
Ami's jaw dropped open. "It couldn't be..."
The woman leaned back in her armchair and sipped slowly out of a glass of water.
"Now, what was her name?" she questioned thoughtfully. "Aino Minako? Yes, I think that is
right. Aino Minako-chan, first year of high school."
Lighting up, the priestess nearly bounced into the old woman's lap. "That's
fantastic!" she grinned excitedly. "You see, we're friends with Min-MPHF!" She suddenly
found herself struggling to speak through the death-grip that Ami had adhered to her lips.
"Mineiya," put in the blue haired one quickly, hoping that the woman wasn't sharp
enough to tell that Rei was thrashing and fighting under her hand. "Kiko Mineiya, a very
nice brunette girl from Juuban. However, if you're certain the position is filled, then..."
"Definitely," nodded the older woman decidedly. At almost the same time, the front
door opened and Asai - garbed in his volleyball shorts and a T-shirt - strode into the
living room and smiled apologetically toward the group.
Ami thanked her lucky stars that he didn't recognize either her or Rei, and that
he didn't question the odd picture the two Senshi made.
The woman grinned and stood slowly. "Now I can make you two your tea!" she beamed
in a grandmotherly way, instinctively stepping over her dogs and starting toward the
hallway. "You two girls wait right here; I'll be back in no time."
As soon as she was out of the room, the black-haired teen kicked her friend in the
shins and squeezed out of her half-nelson. "What the Hell was that for?" she roared, her
voice alone shaking the walls.
"I just want to know more about Asai and why he's so perfect for Minako," stated
Ami plainly, bending down to pat the head of one of the dogs. Rei shot her an odd look, and
she rolled her blue eyes. "If we just let her know that we want to fix Minako-chan up with
the same person, we'll never get to the depths of Asai's REAL moral character." She pulled
her glasses out of her breast pocket and rested them on the tip of her nose. "This,
Rei-chan, is what we call investigative work."
Her glasses flashed white as she adjusted them, setting them perfectly on the
bridge of her nose.
The miko sighed. "You're enjoying this WAY too much," she lamented, shaking her
head.
Ami smirked, her smile almost evil in nature. "Nah," she responded nonchalantly.
"Not TOO much."
***
The clock ticked.
And ticked.
And ticked.
And ticked.
And -
Well, you get the idea.
Minako groaned and rolled over from her back to her stomach, staring dully at the
cordless phone in front of her. It was a cute little Hello Kitty phone she had picked up at
the Sanrio store just a few weeks before, all pink and girly with little flowers and stars
and smiling Kitty-chans on the front. As the minutes passed by, however, it became an object
of her mockery, the Kitty-chans grinning up at her in their own, private mirth, as if
saying, "Ha, you pathetic loser! You lied about your bra size and you're STILL not big
enough to win a guy!"
Cursing, she picked up the phone and flung it at the wall. Unfortunately, she missed
the wall and threw it through the open window and onto the street below.
Artemis flinched as he heard the familiar sound of cracking plastic. "It's only
one in the afternoon on the first day of a week-long run," he informed the blonde with his
most encouraging cat smile. "I mean, a lot can happen in the next week, and there's a
VERY good chance that - "
"Shut up," moaned Minako as she rolled off her futon and started poking around under
her bed to find her orange rotary phone, which she had replaced the week before. "I know
that you think I'm totally stupid, and I don't really blame you. In fact, I'm starting to
think you were right all along."
The cat would have done a victory dance had the phone not rung at THAT VERY MOMENT,
cutting off any coherent thought or responce he would have had. Dropping the now-useless
Hello Kitty base, the blonde dove for her phone and picked it up with the most charming
grin she could muster.
"V-chan here! Talk to me!"
And then, her grin dissolved into a thoroughly pissed-off frown.
"No! This is NOT the Hayume residence!"
CLICK!
Blanching, the cat shrugged his shoulders. "You have a whole week," he reminded her,
smiling beneath his sweatdrop. "A week is a VERY long time. For all you know, you could
wake up tomorrow morning and have sixty responces to your ad sitting on the answering
machine."
"I could also wake up tomorrow and have a pig's snout," she quipped with a toss of
her head.
Artemis sighed and resigned himself to lay, dejected, on the windowsill. Why was he
letting her bother? He thought of the woman down the street and of Asai-kun, and how happy
he KNEW she would be if she just would have the chance to hook up with him. They were
perfect for each other, he knew... Well, at least he he guessed so... and hoped so... and
prayed for it to BE so...
He gulped and raised his head, glancing up at the blonde. She was still staring at
the phone, hopeful and yet hopeless at the exact same time. "Listen, Minako-chan," he began,
trying to think of a nice way to come clean with all the plots and things he had been up to,
"I think I know a guy who - "
The phone rang, cutting him off. Minako rolled her eyes and picked it up, mouthing
the words "One minute" as she did so.
"This is not the Hayume resi - What? Yes, I placed that ad in the paper. V-chan,
right? That's me."
Her pet's eyes blossomed. "Oh no..." he groaned softly to himself. "Someone actually
ANSWERED that thing..."
A stuffed animal came flying in his direction, and he suddenly knew he hadn't said
that statement quietly enough.
"Mmm-hmmm? Really?! Yes! Of course! What? Oh, I know exactly where that restuarant
is! At five? Great! I'll be there!"
Hanging up the phone, Minako flashed her cat the "V-for-victory" sign. "Aino
Minako's amazingly fabulous search may have come to fruition!" she announced proudly. "I
have my very first date tonight!"
The cat sighed. "Just great..." he muttered.
Another toy animal beamed him upside the head. He looked up and Minako smiled back
at him, cutely. 'I need to mutter quieter,' he resolved.
***
Rei leaned over the countertop as best she could, kicking up one foot behind her as
she batted her eyelashes at the attractive young man across from her. "Are you sure you
don't need help putting away those groceries, Asai-kun?" she questioned in a falsetto tone,
winking as he glanced up from a stack of soup cans to glance at her. "They look so...
heavy..."
"No, thanks, Rai-SAN," he responded, emphasizing the respectful (and slightly
unfriendly) suffix as he spoke. Not to mention using the wrong name. "I think I've got it."
Ignoring his blatant botching of her name, she giggled sweetly. "Well, let me know
if you need help!" she chirped, toying with a strand of raven-colored hair.
He rolled his eyes and ignored her.
Sometimes, the miko had to curse Ami's ingenuity. The blue-haired genius had sent
her Shinto friend into the kitchen to do "investigative reporting". More specifically,
she had sent Rei to find out how Asai would react to some beautiful young girl throwing
herself at him. "After all, Rei-chan," she had scolded the miko as she shoved her into the
next room, "we want to be sure that he doesn't take advantage of Minako!"
"I'm sure that - " she had began before she stumbled over the kitchen rug and
landed, quite literally, at the volleyball player's feet.
So much for being subtle.
"What do you like in a girl?" she asked of him after a brief pause, hopping up onto
the kitchen counter. She crossed her legs at the knees and showed as much leg as possible,
her super-short school skirt not hindering the process in the least. "Do you prefer
cheerleaders, jocks, innocent school girls who have never had a date in their lives...?"
He arched an eyebrow at her. "I like girls who can make me smile and laugh," he
responded softly, almost as though he was a little embarassed. "I want someone who I can
play sports with sometimes... and cuddle with, other times. A good personality, a good
soul..." Blushing a bit, he ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I prefer a jock girl with
a feminine side," he chuckled before going back to the mini-cannery his grandmother had sent
him to purchase.
Rei frowned. It was almost too good an answer. "And what about a first date?" she
asked, leaning forward until she was certain she was giving him a bird's eye view of her
clevage. "Dinners? Movies? Dancing? What?"
Feeling as though he was on a rewind of Blind Date, he sighed. "I would take her out
to dinner and a movie, maybe dancing..." He shrugged. "I've really never had a serious
girlfriend, Rye-san. I want one, but..." Turning toward her, he shrugged. "None has really
ever hit my standards for the perfect girl, no matter how badly they may want to."
Blowing her bangs from her face, the Senshi crossed her arms over her chest. So much
for investigative reporting. "Obviously not," she mumbled, frowning. "You have some damned
high standards if you ask me..."
And then, she realized that Minako-chan met every one of those very standards...
***
"This one?"
"Why did we agree to help her?"
"Shush, Haruka."
"Oh, that's all fine and good for you. ACT as though you don't mind, yeah, because
you are all big on getting on Neo-Serenity's good side! I see how this is going! That way,
when the year 3000 rolls around, you'll be popular with all the guards and just be able to
get away with whatever the Hell you - "
"Haruka, do you WANT me to box your ears?"
".......no......"
"HELLO?! What do you guys THINK?!" Minako stomped a foot rather loudly on the tile
floor of the botique, and the sound echoed through the shop. Several other women - most of
them young and all of them quite stylish - turned to glance at the blonde standing in the
middle of the store. She was garbed in a tight, long black dress that left NOTHING to the
imagination. Emphasis greatly on NOTHING.
Kaioh Michiru, the senshi of the sea, brushed a strand of aquamarine hair from her
face and shook her head slowly. It was the thirteenth dress she had tried on, and yet...
"Definitely not, Minako-chan," she advised in a motherly tone, her hands on her hips as she
spoke. "It's far too low cut and tight. You don't want to give it all away on the first
date, do you?"
Her mate smirked wolfishly and winked at the blonde. "I don't know," she retorted,
moving to wrap an around around Minako's well-shaped hips. "I kind of like it. After all, it
does give it ALL away..."
Cuffing the sandy-haired woman on the back of her head, Michiru rolled her eyes. "Go
try that blue one on again, Minako," she told the bow-haired girl. "I really think that one
was the best on you."
"That one was BORING," contended Haruka. She would have pressed farther, but a glare
of death stopped her.
It was almost four in the afternoon, and Minako was starting to panic about her
impending date with the man who had answered her ad. He had said very little... In fact, the
only things she really new about him was that his name was Kenisho and he was from the
upper-class section of Tokyo. He hadn't left a number or any really tangible information.
She didn't even know his last name.
Sighing, she retreated into the dressing room and peeled off the black dress.
Calling Michiru for fashion advice had not been her first choice, but neither Ami nor Rei
had been home to go shopping, and she didn't want to interrupt Makoto's food processor
lesson with Usagi. She almost didn't mind spending time with the antagonistic Outer Senshi.
After all, Haruka was so bishounen, it was almost scary.
She slowly tugged the blue dress, which had been Michiru's favorite of the group,
back on and adjusted it over her form. It was knee-length with a tight, sparkly bodice and a
flowing, billow skirt. With a wrinkle of her nose, she smoothed the dress over her hips and
strode into the shop with the confidence and certainty of a goddess.
Haruka let out a long wistle, as if she had just taken a good, long look at the
dress. "I take it back," she smiled, almost drooling. "That IS a good dress."
The blonde teen blushed slightly and scuffed her feet together. "So much for boring,
ne?" kidded Michiru with a long-lashed wink, moving to circle Minako and give her a
once-over. "I think it's for you," she approved, nodding. "I really think it's for you."
"I think we shouldn't let her roam the streets in an outfit like that," put in the
sandy-haired motocross champ, suddenly edgy. She hadn't paused to think about the kinds of
weirdoes that lurked about the Tokyo streets at night. "It's not safe..."
"Don't worry so much, Haruka-san!" laughed Minako heartily. "I'm Venus-chan,
remember? I can handle it!"
The duo of Outer Senshi glanced wearily at one another as they watched their younger
friend fly towards the dressing room, her hair bouncing all the way. "I have a bad feeling
about this," sighed the taller woman, her hands in her back pockets as she spoke.
Michiru frowned and nodded slightly. "Sadly, so do I."
***
"I think Asai is a fine young man, ma'am, and I don't want you to think otherwise,"
Ami assured her newfound friend carefully, hoping and wishing and praying that she didn't
offend the older woman. "I am just really curious about who he is, inside. What makes him
tick, what he loves and adores, everything else." She adjusted her glasses. "After all, if
it fails with Minako, I would love to set him up with Minamei."
The woman frowned, arching an eyebrow questioningly. "I thought you said her name
was Mineiya," she observed, pursing her wrinkled lips.
Ami just barely avoided a massive facevault. "Yes, yes, Mineiya," she chuckled
embarassedly, brushing her hair from her face in a nervous motion. "I don't know why I said
Minamei. Slip of the tongue, I'm certain."
Her companion nodded, but it was obvious that she didn't believe the blue-haired
girl sitting across from her. "Well, I think that Asai is a fine boy," she explained,
sipping her tea as she spoke. "He's intelligent, sporty, and very quick-witted. Maybe a
little shy, but he's a good boy. Perfect for Minako-chan, I'm sure. I mean, don't you
agree?"
"Of course I agree!" grinned Ami happily, clasping her hands together on her lap.
"Minako and Asai are absolutely perfect for - "
"Minako? Don't you mean Mineiya? Or Minamei?" The old bag was smirking something
awful.
The young one blanched and pursed her lips. "Oops?"
Laughing, the elderly lady tossed her hair and smiled. Ami said nothing, staring at
her feet in terrible embarassment. "I knew you two were talking about Minako-chan as soon as
you walked in here," she told the genius with a wave of her hand. "Art talked so highly of
her and then you two, that I was sure you had the same thoughts I did. So why don't we all
join forces, work together to make both Asai AND Minako-chan very, very happy? What do you
say?"
Ami smiled and nodded eagerly. "That sounds great to me!" she agreed, taking off her
glasses and tucking them back into her pocket. "Joining forces will - "
There was a crash from the kitchen, and a few soup cans rolled into the living room.
"Asai!" called the elderly woman, rising slowly. "What in the world was that noise?"
Tripping out of the other room was a bedraggled, messy-looking Rei. A red welt was
forming over her eye as she strode into the living room.
"I wish I hadn't offered to help," she groaned, rubbing her eye.
Ami chuckled and said nothing.
***
Fudotoku Kenisho - much to Minako's ever-lasting horror - looked to be about forty
and dressed even older. Large, plastic-rimmed glasses sat heavily on his nose, and his
black, greasy hair was so well-lacquered into a perverse combover that the blonde wondered
if it was painted on. He wore a three-piece gray suit with a dotted bow tie, and when he
smiled, a shiver ran down the young woman's spine. He frightened her just a bit, and it
wasn't the kind of shiver you get when you go on a rollercoaster. This was REAL FEAR.
"So, Minako-chan, what posessed such a pretty young woman like you to place a person
ad in the paper?" questioned Kenisho after the waiter came with a basket of bread and left
with their dinner orders. His query came complete with one of his smiles, causing his date
to shudder just a little bit. "I mean, someone as beautiful as you... I wouldn't expect you
be single at all, let alone single AND desperate."
He laughed, and she forced herself to laugh with him before guzzling down her fifth
glass of water that evening. Why was it that being with him made her more nervous than
fighting Sailor Galaxia or meeting the Three Lights ever had? Placing down her cup on the
table, she shrugged and crossed her hands over her lap. "The boys at my school have never
really taken an interest in me," she admitted quietly, trying to decide how she should
respond to him. "I had a steady boyfriend when I studied abroad, in England, but I haven't
really become close to anyone since then." She paused, picking her words carefully. "I
really want to find the perfect guy and settle down. All my friends have boyfriends,
and..."
The blonde trailed off and into an awkward silence. Around them, the posh French
restaurant bustled with soft activity - busboys cleared empty tables while other patrons
discussed their jobs, their families, their lives... And in the middle of it sat a teenage
girl with some middle-aged stranger. Some SCARY middle-aged stranger, she added silently to
herself. Some VERY scary middle-aged...
"Losing someone you love is hard, I know," he nodded sympathetically, his eyes
glancing up and down her form. Minako shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It felt like he was
visually undressing her. "I can never seem to keep a girlfriend too long... Of course, they
all say I suffer from wandering eyes!" He laughed, and she smiled slighty and nodded,
reaching for her glass.
He seized her hand halfway there in a tight, and yet somehow gently, gesture. "But I
don't want to just look at you, Minako-chan," Kenisho whispered, his voice low, flinty,
seductive. "Let's leave this place and go back to my apartment for a drink. What do you
say?"
Minako panicked. Why hadn't she seen it coming?! He wasn't some kind-hearted
gentlemen from the lonely heart's club! He was a perverted old man looking for some stupid
teenager to take to bed.
She tried to tug her arm away, but he held fast. "Let go of me!" she moaned,
wrenching her wrist as hard as she could. His grip tightened further, and he twisted her
arm a bit.
"Minako-chan, let's not be rash," smirked Kenisho smugly. "I don't want the little
butterfly that I've caught in my web to break her wings."
Glaring at him, Minako's voice turned to a soft, angry growl. "The only broken
things here are going to be your balls," she informed him.
She shifted her weight and kicked him as hard as she could from under the table. He
yelled out in pain and moved to clutch his groin, doubling over in his chair.
And Minako ran from the restaurant faster than she ever had in her life.
***
Minako fled through the midnight streets, her high heels clicking loudly on the
pavement. It was not yet sundown, and pedestrians still dotted the sidewalk, mostly too
busy with their own business to pay any mind to the frightened girl in their midst. A few
turned to look at her, but before anything was said she had passed on her way, her face
dotted with tears as she ran.
She was a good eight or nine blocks from the restaurant before she finally collapsed
on a bus stop bench, gasping for air. The cool summer breeze mussed her hair as she dug in
her purse for a handkerchief. She didn't want to let herself believe what had happened, and
yet... She knew it had. There was no way to deny it... She had almost been had a man take
advantage of her.
"Can I sit here?" questioned a voice, and she glanced up to see a young woman
standing above her. Long, brown-gold hair hung in kind-hearted green eyes, and the blonde
was loathe to say no. Instead, she nodded timidly and scooted over to make room.
The stranger sat down, and for a moment, all was silent. Neither said a word; Minako
really didn't feel like venturing information, and the strange woman was obviously afraid to
say anything and, therefore, make and idiot out of herself. Finally, she smiled kindly. "All
dressed up with no where to go, eh?" she joked, winking at the blonde. "Or should I ask what
a pretty little thing like you is doing in a place like this?"
Minako laughed through a sniffle and shrugged her shoulders. "I had a date that
didn't go well," she replied helplessly, not knowing what more to say.
Nodding, the brunette leaned back onto the bench. "I totally can understand that
one," she agreed in a sympathetic manner. "I had a three-year relationship that didn't go
well." She chuckled. "I swore off love almost totally, but I think I'm ready to start
again."
The blonde's ears perked up. "Really?" she questioned. Her mind rejoiced at the
chance to talk to someone else about finding a boyfriend. "How are you planning to start up
again? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."
Her newfound friend shrugged. "I found this really great personal ad. Just great,
exactly what I want." Digging into her pocket, she pulled out a newspaper clipping and
handed it to Minako. "Tell me if this isn't just the perfect match."
Minako wiped her eyes and started to read. She got about halfway through before she
realized just what it was she had been handed.
"T-this..." The words caught in her throat. "This is MY personal ad!" she gaped,
dropping the sheet of paper onto the ground.
Blinking profusely, the brunette blinked a few dozen times. "I'll be damned!" she
grinned after a brief moment, bending to pick up her sheet of newsprint. "YOU'RE the chick
who I was going home to call! Of all the ironic happenings in - "
And then, she blinked again.
Minako, once again, had begun to run down the sidewalk.
***
He sighed and leaned back in his seat. It seemed that every time his grandmother
went to her "Braille Bingo Night," he was stuck sitting for the dogs until she came home.
Of course, it wasn't always such a bad deal. He got free food, as much soda as he could
drink, and utter silence to do his homework.
Which worked out, really, except this particular week he had absolutely no homework.
Asai groaned softly in utter boredom and leaned forward to grab the paper from the
countertop. "I doubt that Grandma will mind if I decide to do the crossword puzzle," he
mused to himself. He flipped through the front section, past the stock charts and the sports
scores (after checking the baseball rankings, of course), and then dove into the Arts and
Entertainment Section.
Unfortunately, as he moved to open the section of the paper, another section - the
classified ads - dropped to the floor. Rembrandt immediately latched onto the paper and
scampered out of the room with it, Maxwell in hot pursuit.
The teen groaned. "Dumb dogs," he muttered to himself as he pushed out his chair and
took off after them. A chase around the dining room table ensued until, ten minutes after he
had first lost the section of the paper, he recovered the drool-covered remnants of the
pages.
Glancing over what remained of the paper, he blinked. In the midst of the page, next
to a large hole (courtesy of Rembrant) was a note written in red pen. The note, of course,
was in his grandmother's familiar loopy handwriting. It read, "Have Asai call!!!" But all
that was left of the advertisement it pointed to were the last four digits of a phone
number: 8716.
He recognized the page as the personals and sighed, crumpling the paper into a ball.
"I really need to talk to her about this mission to find me a girlfriend," he muttered to
himself, tossing the paper into the garbage can. "I mean, first this 'nice girl' comes over
and she does nothing but talk about her CONSTANTLY, NOW this ad... What next?!"
***
Minako collapsed onto her bed in defeat and stared at the ceiling. "You don't need
to say a word, Artemis," she told her cat matter-of-factly, not even turning to look at him.
He had been following her around since she had gotten home, watching in silence as she
shoveled down a pint of ice cream and then changed into her pajamas. He would have followed
her right into the bathtub had she not locked him out of the bathroom. "You were right."
And now, she lay helplessly on her futon, her wet hair soaking her comforter as she
looked, teary-eyed, at the cracked paint above her. "Kenisho was, like, forty," she informed
her pet softly, not looking at him. "He tried to seduce me, and I ran. Then, I sat down on a
bench and met this really nice brunette chick who was just getting ready to go back into
romance after a bad break up. Of course, she picked ME as the person she wanted! ME! As if
I'm gay or something."
She rolled over and burried her face in her pillow. "Why aren't there any decent
guys in the universe, Artemis?" she moaned, her voice muffled by the feathery down of her
pillow. "Why can't I just find a nice boyfriend and settle down with him and - "
The phone rang, cutting her off. "Never mind," she groaned at the cat. "I don't want
to hear your wisdom, anyway."
Artemis frowned. "Minako, I'm not mad at you. I just want to - "
"Hello?"
There was silence as Minako blinked, listening intently to what was going on at the
other end of the phone connection.
"Hello?"
Silence...
"Listen, you pervert, I am NOT in the mood to deal with your adolescent
heavy-breathing shit! Get a life, buddy!"
She hung up the reciever with a clang.
Artemis sighed, frowning. "I really am not mad, Minako-chan," he told the girl,
leaping onto her bed and curling up beside her. "And I'm sorry that this has been so tough
for you. I knew something was wrong from the moment you walked in... And I'm just glad that
you didn't get hurt."
She smiled softly and reached down to pat her cat on the head. "I wish I could have
a boyfriend like YOU, Artemis."
He shrugged, smirking. "Eh, I do my best."
***
The next few days were so peaceful that they could be dubbed as uneventful. Rei and
Ami kept in constant contact with Asai's grandmother, who - after figuring out the girls had
no idea what to call her - had introduced herself as Shoga. Shoga, though blind, was proving
herself to be as sharp as a tack and super-intelligent, always coming up with ideas for how
to set up her grandson with her neighbor. Unfortunately for the three-person task force,
Minako's constant obsession with her still-running personal ad lead her to do nothing more
than sit in front of the phone.
Meanwhile, Usagi and Makoto tried desperately to find a way of stopping Minako's
amazingly fabulous search for a boyfriend. It seemed to be just that - a desperate (and
futile) attempt at the impossible.
It was the third uneventful day in a row after Minako's terrible date that the
blonde stomped into Rei's bedroom at the Shinto temple and dumped a bouquet of flowers onto
her bed. All the others, who had been holding a "religious study class" (which was the
codename for a "set up Minako with Asai seesion"), had barely had time to pull out a few
Bibles and a Torah before she barreled in. And she did BARREL in - she was one pissed off
Minako-chan.
Ignoring her friends, the teen walked across the tatami mats and bent down, seizing
her white feline by the scruff of his neck. "I've known for a LONG time that you've had a
sick sense of humor, Artemis," she growled at him, "but sending me flowers signed 'K'
really stoops to a new low!"
The cat sputtered, hardly able to breathe. "F-flowers?" he choked, struggling to get
away from her before she single-handedly could be billed as the cause of his death. "What
flowers?"
She tossed him on the bed and pointed, furious, at the dozen red roses she had
brought along. "THOSE flowers," she spat.
Sweatdropping, Ami scratched the back of her head. "Now, Minako, let's examine this
carefully," she gulped, not wanting to see the white pet killed in the next few moments.
"There is no proof that Artemis sent those flowers. It could be your mother, and the 'K'
could stand for 'Ka-san.'"
"Or it could be your friend Kari from England," put in Makoto helpfully, looking up
from the Bible she was supposed to be interested in (nevermind the fact it was upside down
on the table). "She sends you gifts a lot, right?"
Usagi grinned brilliantly. "Or it COULD be from Kenisho! You know, that guy you
went out with?"
The others all threw their various religious books at her.
Sighing, Artemis poked the flowers with his nose. "I'm really sorry, Mina-chan, but
I didn't send you any flowers." The helpless, apologetic look on her face was almost heart-
breaking. "But don't worry. I'm sure it IS Kari or someone else. After all, that Kenisho
jerk got his just desserts the other night, ne?"
The blonde nodded weakly, but somehow, Artemis was certain that she didn't believe
him in the least.
***
Minako tossed and turned in bed, victim of a fitful sleep and terrible dreams. Her
room was cold, empty, lonesome, and the thoughts of the strange roses still haunted her.
Why? How? So many questions, no answers...
She woke to the sound of footsteps on creaking floorboards. To her groggy half-awake
state, it seemed like nothing much, but -
"Mina!" hissed Artemis suddenly, leaping onto the bed in a frantic kitty-cat manner.
She sat straight up with a gasp, surprised by her pet's sudden action. "Mina-chan, there's
someone in the house!"
Her eyes blossomed. "What?" she gasped, staring at him in fright.
He nodded solemnly, his face screwing into a concerned scowl. "He's some sort of
washed-up, middle-aged burglar, I think," he told her, hopping down to peek out the doorway.
"Dressed all in black and armed with a crowbar. But he has the worst combover I have seen in
all my years! It's HIDEOUS."
For a moment, Minako was frozen. Combover? There was only one man she could think of
who would come to their house at night... Well, only one man with a combover, at least.
"Kenisho," she breathed, kicking off her covers as she spoke.
"WHAT?!" gaped Artemis, his whisper almost a small yell as he watched his charge
cross the room and head toward her dresser. "Do you think the flowers were from him, too?"
"I don't doubt it," she responded, pulling what appeared to be a small orange stick
out of her top bureau drawer. "But don't worry, Artemis; I'll clean his clock."
And then, with a smirk, she whispered, "Venus Crystal Power, Make-Up!"
***
"We've been trying to get this creep for months," sighed the police lieutenent
apologetically as Fodutoku Kenisho was lead into a squad car. He was bound with the normal
police-registered handcuffs, and a tightly-wound Venus Love Me Chain, as well. "He's known
for propositioning young teens like yourself, but we've never gotten anyone to positively
ID him well enought to take him in."
Minako smiled and tightened her bathrobe around her lithe form. For some reason, she
found herself blushing. "Well, I'm just glad that Sailor Venus was able to come to my
rescue," she chuckled embarassedly, acting like the schoolgirl she was. "I don't know what I
would have done without her!"
The cop nodded and smiled at her. "I never really believed in those Sailor Senshi
chicks until now," he admitted with a small shrug as he scribbled in the blanks on a
clipboard form. "It figures, doesn't it, that - "
"Minako-chan! Thank goodness you're okay!" cried a voice, and the blonde turned to
see Shoga stumbling across the street, with Maxwell all harnessed into his seeing-eye-dog
gear. The blonde chuckled at the sight the elderly woman made; she was wearing a raincoat
over her nightgown and looked positively ridiculous. "I heard the flashing lights, but I
couldn't wait for my grandson to come over! I just had to check on you!" She hugged the girl
tightly. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Chuckling, the teen shook her head. "No, he didn't," she told her neighbor gently.
"He just scared me a bit, that's all. Besides, Sailor Venus came to my rescue."
Shoga smiled in her "I know something you don't know" manner. "Why, my grandson has
been saved by Sailor Venus, too!" she grinned excitedly, her sightless eyes twinkling with
mirth. "If you could wait five or ten minutes, he'll be here. He's on his way from his home,
and - "
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," sighed the lieutenant, stepping in, "but Aino-san has to come
down to the station and fill out some papers for us. Maybe she can meet your grandson some
other time."
Minako was lead away by a few uniformed officers, calling a polite "So long!" to
her older friend.
The old woman scowled, her nose wrinkling. "So much for being in the right place at
the right time," she muttered.
***
Minako collapsed into bed at about six a.m., completely bushed from the night of
excitement. Even though she had left for the station at about two, all the red tape and
paperwork took so long that, by time she walked into the house, the sun was already touching
the horizon.
She sighed and settled into her covers, ready to sleep, when Artemis popped up and
sat down at her bedside. "I hope you've learned your lesson about meeting strange guys from
the paper," he scolded her in the most fatherly manner he could muster.
Rolling blue eyes, his charge nodded. "It's a dangerous business," she admitted with
a small nod, sick of hearing all his grousing about her boyfriend mission in the first
place. "I mean, you never do know what kind of sick you're going to find, even if guys like
Kenisho are one in a million."
The cat nodded. "Exactly. So, I take it you're giving up on this crazy plan of
yours, ne?"
With a sharp recoil, the girl sat up in bed and glowered at her pet. "Hell no!" she
shot back at him, as if she had never heard anything more ridiculous in her life. "I mean,
why in the WORLD would I want to give up?" She cupped her chin in a hand. "I just need to
think of something new and different, something that no one else in the WHOLE WORLD has
ever thought of before."
He scoffed. "I would like to see that done." After a pause, he sighed. "Mina-chan,
you have to realize that EVERYTHING you try is going to be something - "
He stopped as he saw the proverbial lightbulb dawn over her head. "I've got it!"
she announced loudly, pointing one finger in the air. "The perfect idea!"
Artemis blinked at her. "What NOW?" he groaned, afraid to even ask.
Minako leaned back into her covers, got all balled up, and smirked. "I'll tell you
in the morning."
The cat shook his head, not even sure that he wanted to know what she would think up
next.
"Oh, boy."
***
What next? Yeah, okay, we aren't quite sure yet either. Hey, co-authoring is fun, but there
are some downsides! But please e-mail us and let us know what you think.
Will Minako succeed? Will Ami, Rei, and Shoga succeed? Will Asai ever find out what's going
on right under his nose? Find out next time as Aino Minako and Her Amazingly Fabulous Search
For A Boyfriend continues!
-End