PRECIOUS METALS by Sailor Earth
*Chapter One*
It was a beautiful September day. Aino Minako stepped out of Gucci and onto the streets of Crystal Tokyo. She'd just purchased a pair of Tom Ford stilletoes, black with with ribbon-ties snaking around her slim ankles. She carefully smoothed her Prada skirt. She loved being right-hand woman to Queen Serenity. There were many perks to the job, and designer clothes were just one of them.
Something caught her eye.
"I haven't seen that boutique before. Goddess Creations. I'll have to check it out!" As she entered the new boutique, one of the assistants smiled at her. She flipped through the racks of garments for a while, before selecting a gold organza gown with a silk lining. It was split to the navel, and the skirt shimmered with thousands of tiny beads. Minako carefully carried the gown into the changing rooms. There were only two cubicles, each with a warm, soft carpet, a cream leather sofa, and a velvet curtain over the doorway. To Minako, it seemed more like a movie star's boudoir than a changing room cubicle. Minako slipped the gown over her head. The silk felt cool on her skin, and the gown clung to her in all the right places. She pushed back the curtain, and sauntered up and down the aisle outside the cubicle to see what it would look like when she walked.
"Very nice, VERY sexy." A deep, male voice coming from behind her made jump suddenly. She spun around to see a tall man with long, straight silver hair leaning casually in the doorway. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, and wore a plain blue shirt, un-buttoned at the collar, with a very expensive-looking suit. "Probably Armani," Minako noted to herself. She knew she recognised him, but from where?
"What are you doing in the women's changing area?!" she demanded, "Get out!"
"Get out?! You must be joking! No one's ever ordered me to leave my own store before!" he laughed.
"You're store?! I didn't mean..." Minako was speechless.
"Yes," he replied, "I haven't introduced myself very well, have I? I'm Kunzite, manager and chief designer for Goddess Creations. And if I may say so, you were just MADE to wear that dress, honey."
"Kunzite?" A look of realization spread across Minako's face.
"So you do recognise me, Venus?"
"You...you should go Kunzite. Or else..."
"Or else you'll punish me in the name of Venus? There's no need. Thanks to you, Beryl's long gone. I'm no longer 'under the influence' as you might say. So don't bother trying to blast me with 'Venus Power' like you did last time we spoke."
"You better be telling the truth, Kunzite, or Serenity will be on your case like lightening," she warn him coldly.
"Are you going to take that gown or not?" he asked.
"Yes, I am, actually. Did you design it?"
"I did indeed."
"Well, it's very beautiful." With that, she walked back over to the 'cubicle'. Kunzite followed.
"WHAT are you doing?"
"Nothing," he smiled sweetly.
She shut the curtain in his face. Who the hell did he think he was?! How dare he show up like this?!
*****
At the cash desk, she took her gold credit card from her Louis Vuitton handbag, and gave it to Kunzite.
"Gold..." he murmured admiringly, "Still, I'd expect nothing less from the Queen of Venus. How is your planet, by the way, Venus? Or should I be calling you..." he glanced down at the name on her card, "...Miss Aino Minako?"
"Call me whatever."
"Aino Minako...beautiful child of love...strange."
"What's strange?"
"It should be woman. Not child. You look 100% woman from where I'm standing." He winked at her, and she gave him a coy smile. "I do believe that's the first smile you've given me, Mina-chan."
Minako couldn't help but like all his flattery, no matter how crazy he drove her. "What's wrong with me?" she scolded to herself.
"Venus is fine, thankyou for asking. It was restored by the Silver Crystal at the same time as the Moon Kingdom. Not many people live there now, though."
"Why ever not?"
"Metallia wiped out all the Venusians at the same time as she destroyed the Moon Kingdom. I assume my people were reborn here, along with the rest of us, but unlike the senshi, they didn't recover their memories."
"So who does live there?"
"Sometimes I stay there in my castle, Magellan."
Ah, yes, I remember Magellan," he smiled dreamily, "I haven't been there for so long..."
"So, as I was saying, the only people that stayed there are tourists. On honeymoon's and stuff mostly. No one's really keen to move there permenantly, so it's pretty quiet. But Kunzite, what I really, really want to know is why you are here. We thought you were dead."
*Chapter One*
It was a beautiful September day. Aino Minako stepped out of Gucci and onto the streets of Crystal Tokyo. She'd just purchased a pair of Tom Ford stilletoes, black with with ribbon-ties snaking around her slim ankles. She carefully smoothed her Prada skirt. She loved being right-hand woman to Queen Serenity. There were many perks to the job, and designer clothes were just one of them.
Something caught her eye.
"I haven't seen that boutique before. Goddess Creations. I'll have to check it out!" As she entered the new boutique, one of the assistants smiled at her. She flipped through the racks of garments for a while, before selecting a gold organza gown with a silk lining. It was split to the navel, and the skirt shimmered with thousands of tiny beads. Minako carefully carried the gown into the changing rooms. There were only two cubicles, each with a warm, soft carpet, a cream leather sofa, and a velvet curtain over the doorway. To Minako, it seemed more like a movie star's boudoir than a changing room cubicle. Minako slipped the gown over her head. The silk felt cool on her skin, and the gown clung to her in all the right places. She pushed back the curtain, and sauntered up and down the aisle outside the cubicle to see what it would look like when she walked.
"Very nice, VERY sexy." A deep, male voice coming from behind her made jump suddenly. She spun around to see a tall man with long, straight silver hair leaning casually in the doorway. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, and wore a plain blue shirt, un-buttoned at the collar, with a very expensive-looking suit. "Probably Armani," Minako noted to herself. She knew she recognised him, but from where?
"What are you doing in the women's changing area?!" she demanded, "Get out!"
"Get out?! You must be joking! No one's ever ordered me to leave my own store before!" he laughed.
"You're store?! I didn't mean..." Minako was speechless.
"Yes," he replied, "I haven't introduced myself very well, have I? I'm Kunzite, manager and chief designer for Goddess Creations. And if I may say so, you were just MADE to wear that dress, honey."
"Kunzite?" A look of realization spread across Minako's face.
"So you do recognise me, Venus?"
"You...you should go Kunzite. Or else..."
"Or else you'll punish me in the name of Venus? There's no need. Thanks to you, Beryl's long gone. I'm no longer 'under the influence' as you might say. So don't bother trying to blast me with 'Venus Power' like you did last time we spoke."
"You better be telling the truth, Kunzite, or Serenity will be on your case like lightening," she warn him coldly.
"Are you going to take that gown or not?" he asked.
"Yes, I am, actually. Did you design it?"
"I did indeed."
"Well, it's very beautiful." With that, she walked back over to the 'cubicle'. Kunzite followed.
"WHAT are you doing?"
"Nothing," he smiled sweetly.
She shut the curtain in his face. Who the hell did he think he was?! How dare he show up like this?!
*****
At the cash desk, she took her gold credit card from her Louis Vuitton handbag, and gave it to Kunzite.
"Gold..." he murmured admiringly, "Still, I'd expect nothing less from the Queen of Venus. How is your planet, by the way, Venus? Or should I be calling you..." he glanced down at the name on her card, "...Miss Aino Minako?"
"Call me whatever."
"Aino Minako...beautiful child of love...strange."
"What's strange?"
"It should be woman. Not child. You look 100% woman from where I'm standing." He winked at her, and she gave him a coy smile. "I do believe that's the first smile you've given me, Mina-chan."
Minako couldn't help but like all his flattery, no matter how crazy he drove her. "What's wrong with me?" she scolded to herself.
"Venus is fine, thankyou for asking. It was restored by the Silver Crystal at the same time as the Moon Kingdom. Not many people live there now, though."
"Why ever not?"
"Metallia wiped out all the Venusians at the same time as she destroyed the Moon Kingdom. I assume my people were reborn here, along with the rest of us, but unlike the senshi, they didn't recover their memories."
"So who does live there?"
"Sometimes I stay there in my castle, Magellan."
Ah, yes, I remember Magellan," he smiled dreamily, "I haven't been there for so long..."
"So, as I was saying, the only people that stayed there are tourists. On honeymoon's and stuff mostly. No one's really keen to move there permenantly, so it's pretty quiet. But Kunzite, what I really, really want to know is why you are here. We thought you were dead."