Chapter 9
She tapped her foot impatiently. "Minako! Get up! You'll be late for schoo1." The blonde woman paced around impatiently then called out again. "Get up!"
A blur in red, white, and blue dashed out of an upstairs bathroom, sliding down the stairs haphazardly before landing deftly on the floor. Minako grinned sheepishly and bounced into a straight backed position. "Ready!
Her mother shook her head. "First day of school and you're late already. How is it that you are my daughter?"
Minako rolled her eyes. "Well, once upon a time, about seventeen years ago, you and daddy committed an indiscretion. Things happened. And here I am."
"Baka." Her mother curved her lip disapprovingly. "At least you're dressed neatly today."
"Mother. I'm not twelve. I can take care of myself."
"Sometimes I wonder." Minako's mother pushed a bento box into the girl's hands, before pulling her shoulder around to inspect her back.
Minako shrugged off the hand irritably. Her father shot her a sympathetic glance from the breakfast table, before retreating behind the safety of his morning paper. He was a simple, extremely intelligent man, who had made the mistake of marrying for looks rather than personality, preferring to retreat behind his books and work rather than deal with the firebrand he had accepted into his bed. An investment banker by trade, Aino-san was a loving if distant father, whom Minako had never seen enough of to know well.
She knew that her mother disapproved of her father's laconic demeanor. To compensate, the alpha female of the household felt it necessary to exert controlling influence on all the happenings within her home. Secretly, Minako sensed that her mother was reacting to her father's dominating intelligence, seeking it to bring it under heel with eerie domestic powerplays.
In short, her home life was too confusing to begin comprehending. Minako prefered the less intellectually rigorous challenges of hanging out with her friends.
She grabbed her coat and bolted out the door, ignoring any further commands by her mother. The freewheeling spirit of the senshi of love revolted against such dictatorial control and she looked forward to the day ahead with a mixture of relief and trepidation.
A white cat, previously unnoticed, padded up next to her and cleared his throat. "Good morning, Minako-chan."
Minako knelt to scoop the cat up onto her shoulder. "Good morning Artemis. I trust you slept well?"
"Better than most nights, I must admit." The cat yawned. "I enjoy not having to clash with enemies night after night."
"So you've given our concerns a little thought?"
Artemis nodded, almost glumly. "You've got a lot of valid arguments. I just think a little prudence might be worth considering."
"Nightly patrols are a little more than prudent. They're paranoia."
He sighed. "Fine, fine. I see I can't convince you."
Not without irony, "I am so glad that we have your approval. Sometimes you are more controlling than my mother."
The cat chuckled. "I resent that! Both you and I know that that is completely untrue."
Minako giggled. "Yeah, you're right. She really drives me up the wall sometimes."
"You mean all the time?" Artemis shook his head. "That woman has problems. No offense intended."
"You don't need to tell me that." She sighed. "I suppose she means well, but she needs to let me live my life at some point."
The cat nodded, electing to remain silent for the rest of the journey to the Juuban high school. His thoughts were on the actions of his new recruit, the ever confused Kevin. Had the gravity of the situation not been so large, Artemis might have felt guilty about the way he had led on the young man under his tutelage. But he had not survived the destruction of the Silver Millennium by taking chances.
What he was doing was in the best interests of everyone involved. The senshi would get their much needed respite. The Moon Princess's safety would be assured. And Artemis would gain peace of mind.
Content with those thoughts, he let his eyes drift forward the school rising up in the distance.
Idly, Minako drummed her fingers on her arm as she trotted towards school. To the casual observer, her blue eyed stare might have seemed vacant, devoid of thought or interest.
Yet, those familiar to her knew it was deceptive. It was the look of Sailor Venus when calling upon her vast stores of battle experience to defeat an enemy, to solve a quandary, or to resolve a situation More than any of the others, Venus possessed an animal shrewdness that far outweighed any plebeian benefits conferred by intelligence.
To her, the waters of life were fairly easy to navigate. There were few signs that the senshi would be thrust into battle again. Her personal life was manageable, if not wonderful. School had never been much of a problem, although that was certain to change with the mounting difficulty of high school exams.
Minako sighed with exasperation. She had been told that those exams would determine what college she went to, which in turn would determine the path of her life.
'And that, lady, is sanctimonious manure.' She no more accepted that contention, than she did Artemis's doomsday proclamations of incoming enemy attacks. It was moronic that a single set of questions and answers could determine success or failure in life, a thought shared with a certain free thinking American in her life.
Above all, Kevin was both interesting and interested. Interesting in the usual, somewhat exotic foreign way. Interested...because he listened.
It did not resemble the false interest of a follower attracted to her formidable looks, nor the shallow inquiry of some of her other friends. Rather, she sensed it was a genuine curiousity to figure out how her day had been, what she felt, and how she ticked.
If he weren't so damned sincere, she might have been suspicious. For once in her life, someone else was asking the questions and that made her happy.
As she neared the high school, a trio of girls waved at her and Minako picked up her pace to a quick trot. "Good morning, minna-chan!"
Usagi beamed. "Good morning, Minako-chan! You are very cheerful this morning."
Mako spoke dryly. "She's always this cheerful. Although, I am surprised that Usagi managed to get here before you."
Minako shrugged, but did not reply. Ami's eyebrows raised subtly, though she said nothing. An uncomfortable silence fell over those assembled, until the senshi of water broke in with cool, precise tones. "So how are you doing Artemis? Keeping busy?"
"Just watching over you girls. Making sure that this newfound relaxation doesn't end up exploding in our faces."
Ami smiled faintly. "I am quite certain that we will have more than adequate warning, should any problems arise. But we do appreciate your concern, Artemis."
If the cat was annoyed about being outmaneuvered in this particular conversation, he didn't show it. And that surprised Minako for a moment. He was not acting at all like she might've expected. Artemis was not one to back down in an argument. He would stick by his guns, even if he were proven wrong through all manner of logic and rationale. If defeated, he would hide and sulk for a while before returning as if nothing had happened at all.
It was an exasperating trait. By proximity alone, Minako had the most experience with her cat's moodiness and petty tantrums.
Which made his actions all the stranger. Minako gave that a little thought before Ami motioned for the four to head towards the entrance. The first bells had just rung, signaling that they had ten minutes to take their seats. Japanese teachers were especially strict about tardiness and even Usagi moved a little more quickly to get inside.
Ami and Minako quickly moved off to a separate classroom for designated honors students. Minako was unsure how she managed to get placed in such a class, although she suspected that her transcript had been messed up when entering from middle school. Her grades had been mediocre at best and she wondered if her mother had had anything to do with her sudden ascension.
The blue haired girl to her side prodded her out of her reverie and she took her seat quickly. The bell still had not rung and Ami leaned over to whisper into her ear. "Worried?"
"Just a bit. I'm not supposed to be here you know."
"Oh come on. You're certainly intelligent enough. I guess the testing boards finally figured that out."
Minako shook her head violently. "No way. I'm not going to be prepared for this in the slightest. I need to figure out a way of getting out of this class and into Usagi and Mako's."
Ami pretended to be shocked. "And abandon me to this cesspool of nerds and geeks?"
"Hey! You are a nerd!"
"And proud of it. But I digress. Stay in the class with me Minako-chan. It's always easier when you have a study partner. Besides, you can't hold yourself back for long. You're a lot smarter than you lead everyone else to believe. It's time to start proving it."
"When did you gain so much faith in me?"
"When you first led us into battle, Minako-chan." Ami reached out with a steady finger and tapped the blond hard on the head. "I knew there had to be more to that pretty blond head than boys and bouncy hair. It takes a lot of brains to get us all out in one piece, time and again."
Minako tried to think up a rebuttal to that claim, but could only manage with a weak smile. The other senshi grinned confidently. "We're even going to the same cram school! Don't worry. This should be a piece of cake."