PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE

Chapter 38: Proof of Unfaithfulness

Well after the girls had left the restaurant, Jouji gave a kiss to his girlfriend and departed. Once he was out of her sight, he dialed a number on his cell phone and said, "Hi, Meimi baby. How're you doing?"

"You've finally answered your phone, huh? I kept getting the voice mail over and over again, so I thought you had forgotten about our date tonight!"

"Of course I haven't. I was at a meeting and had to turn my phone off. You know how strict the company is when it comes to cell phones during conferences."

"I know, but you could have told me you were busy before!"

"I'm sorry, babe. It won't happen again."

"Then tonight at my place. Don't forget, okay!?"

"I won't. Love you."

Jouji hung up and put his hands in his pockets confidently. He fingered the wedding band that he hid in a secret pocket while contemplating how to return to Osa-P without arousing Naru's suspicion. He always had to remember to put it back on, or else his fiancée would be livid as to why he removed it. While taking a walk to the nearby flower shop, he thought he saw something glow purple in his peripheral vision, which caught his attention as he gazed into an alleyway.

"Sir?" a lavender-haired woman beckoned him. When she came into closer view, Jouji could see that she wore a purple dress, jacket and ankle boots, and that the lower half of her face was covered in a mask. She held something in her hands that was covered in a white cloth. To the adulterous man, she was incredibly beautiful.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"… Am I pretty?"

"Huh?"

"Please tell me. Am I pretty?"

"O-Of course you are! What a silly thing to ask!"

"How kind of you, sir. Permit me to ask you…"

The woman grabbed her mask and ripped it off. Jouji was at a total loss for words, and his horrified expression told her everything. Her sweet voice suddenly turned sinister as she demanded, "How about now?"

"W-W-Waaahhh! A-A-A monster! Get away from me! Aaaaaahhhh!"

The panicking Jouji tried to stumble out of the alley so he could escape from this hideous woman. Undeterred by the terrified cheater's insult, she uncovered what she had been hiding beneath the cloth and hurled it directly at his back. It latched itself to his skin, and the evil presence dwelling within the object dominated his mind. He stopped running and stood there like a puppet.

The woman chuckled as her clothes transformed into a black bodysuit draped with purple robes. She reached her hand out, and the possessed Jouji kneeled in front of her and kissed her palm. She asked him again, "Am I pretty?"

"You are the most beautiful woman in the universe, Lady Varan."

The Camarilla knew she wasn't really talking to Jouji, but rather to the malicious spirit that lurked within the Apple of Discord that she had tossed at him. Still, she couldn't help but have a little fun with the situation. Now that the adulterer was under her control, she could use him to cause trouble with the women he had been cheating with, thereby providing food for the Erisian to devour upon and silently get stronger.

Such a tragedy to be born male. They think they're the superior gender until they let themselves get wrapped around a woman's finger.

JunJun and Midori returned to Osa-P, intent on delivering the bad news to Naru. It was beginning to approach the evening hours and the shop was going to be closed at earlier hours.

"Come on, we gotta hurry!" JunJun yelled, running well past Midori.

"Hey, don't be ridiculous!" the shorter girl huffed, obviously not as fit as her friend. "We can always just come back tomorrow!"

"No way! We gotta tell her before Jouji can return!"

As JunJun dashed around the corner, Midori heard her crash against someone. Whoever she ran into by accident caused her to painfully fall onto her buttocks.

Should have seen this coming, Midori thought sourly.

"Owww, owie, owie, owie… Geez, watch where you're going already!" JunJun yelled at the other person.

"Ow… Y-You're the one who just appeared out of nowhere!" the young man complained, and Midori got to see what he looked like. He had short, messy brown hair and wore thick spectacles and simple clothes. He had a camera case draped over his shoulders and an envelope carelessly stuffed in one of his pockets.

"Man, that smarts… Wait a minute. Don't I know you from somewhere, buddy?"

"Huh? I don't think so," the man adjusted his glasses. "Oh, but wait! I remember you two! You were at Naru's place earlier today, and then I spotted you guys at the restaurant!"

"You mean just today?" Midori asked.

"Yeah! You're friends with Naru, aren't you? Can I ask you guys to do me a big favor?"

"After a spill like that!? I don't think so, chump!" JunJun roared.

"Just calm down already," Midori urged, then asked the bizarre young man, "Does this have to do with Ms. Osaka?"

"Yeah!" he nodded and gave her the nearly crushed envelope. "Can you bring this to her? I'm running a little late with something else and don't have to time to do it myself!"

"Might I ask who is making this bold request?"

"Ah-! Well, uh... Just tell her it's 'Professor Googly-Eyes'. I've got to get going, so take care of it for me!"

He ran off, nearly tripping onto the sidewalk as he tumbled around the corner. JunJun and Midori just stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, then glanced at the letter together.

"… Thoughts?" JunJun muttered.

Midori inspected the envelope, flipping it back and forth. She said, "He must have been in such a hurry that he neglected to seal it."

"Ah hah! That means we can read it right now!"

"Isn't that considered illegal?"

"Only if you're caught!"

Midori gave JunJun a flat glare, and the latter remarked, "Don't worry about it! We'll just take a quick peek, then put it back the way it was! Naru will be none the wiser about it!"

"If you insist. In the case she does wise up about it, you won't mind taking full responsibility for it."

"Gah! Why do you have to be so damn prickly!?" JunJun gasped as Midori gently unfurled the envelope's flap and unfolded its contents. It turned out to be a short letter addressed to Naru, along with several printed photographs stapled to its back. A small jump drive was taped to the paper as well. The letter itself read:

"Hey, Naru! I'm getting back to you with my investigation! As you can see, these are surveillance shots I took of Jouji while you were away at that jeweler's conference in Nagoya. Some of these might make you uncomfortable, but this is the absolute truth. I did some research into the other girls he's seeing, along with girls he dated in the past, which I've added to the jump stick if you're interested. Take a look at everything, then we can have a talk later.

"Sorry that it's come to this, but I really think you should call off your engagement to that jerk! :(

"Take care! ;D – Umino"

The girls paused, unsure of what to do now. JunJun cringed, "It wasn't a love letter."

"Is that what you were expecting this to be?" Midori glared at her. "They're far too old for that sort of pubescent tomfoolery."

"Okay, you have a point. But, uh…"

They looked at the printed photos, with one showing Jouji in the restaurant kissing a familiar girl on the cheek, another of him and a different girl sitting on a bench eating ice cream, and a third of them sneaking into the Osaka family's residence when no one else was around.

"Well, well. Not only is Jouji seeing one woman behind Naru's back, there's actually two at least."

JunJun's jaw dropped with shock. "This is a lot worse than I thought. Hey, Midori, what are we going to do? Maybe this really is too much for us to handle."

"First of all, let's put this back together."

As Midori was about to put the papers back into the envelope, someone's hand suddenly reached over the short girl's head and snatched them right out of her hands! The duo gasped and looked back to see who it was.

"Ma-Ma-Ma-Masato!?" JunJun squeaked and ducked behind the equally stunned Midori. The tall brown-haired wealthyman's expression was fierce as he read the letter with impassioned intensity. JunJun continued to utter, "I-It was an accident! We didn't mean to open it-!"

"Your responsibility," Midori grumbled.

"Ah… Well, um… So what brings you out here this late, Mr. Sanjouin? Eh heh heh heh…"

"I had some business in this area," Masato replied, his thin eyes looking angrier.

Midori asked, "Business with Miss Osaka, I take it?"

He glared down at her. "Whatever my business is, it's none of your concern."

"Fair enough." She remained cool under the pressure that Masato's boiling anger caused. "But your mood obviously changed once you read that letter."

"Of course it would…" JunJun whispered.

"Hmph," Masato scoffed. "It's much too late for you two to be wandering about, and it's more worrisome that you had to discover such an ugly truth. It's getting late now. I'll give you girls a ride back to your apartment."

"Really!? Man, I forgot that it starts getting dark earlier now!"

"What about those papers? That guy asked us to-" Midori tried to say, but Masato cut her off with, "Leave them with me."

His sharp retort forced her to keep quiet about the issue from there on. The trio piled into the Ferrari, and Masato started to drive back toward Ginza. JunJun shuffled nervously in her seat, and Midori kept her gaze on the man's face reflected on the rearview mirror. After a few minutes of silence, she finally asked him a startling question:

"So, how long have you been staking us out?"

"Hm? What are you talking about?" Masato demanded.

"Don't play dumb. This flashy car is a poor choice for tailing people."

"Huh?" JunJun said. "I don't remember seeing this car during the day."

"Not in direct view perhaps, but I saw it reflected on glass panes and street mirrors a few times."

Masato argued, "That was probably another Ferrari. Although you don't see them on public streets a lot, they are a favorite of people such as myself."

"Is that so?" Midori countered. "Do all of them share the same license plate too?"

He cringed, realizing that he was caught. JunJun widened her eyes at her friend's astuteness, and then demanded, "Then you really were following us, weren't you?"

He sighed, and then to the girls' surprise, he found an empty parking spot and stopped the car. He turned back to look at them with a bemused grin and said, "Fine, you got me. I followed you two because I saw you leave Osa-P, and then overheard you at the Italian restaurant."

"So you're aware of the situation that all of you are in," Midori said. "Now that it's come to this, what do you plan on doing?"

"I don't know," Masato groaned, staring at the adultery photos again. "This will be a huge shock to Makoto and Naru. I don't just want to dump these onto their laps and tell them to forget about this guy, but I couldn't stand it if both of them kept thinking he's as faithful as he claims. Things must be handled as delicately as possible so we can all walk away from this on good terms."

"I totally agree with that," JunJun nodded. "But it might be too much for you to do alone. Midori and I will help in any way we can."

"Hmm…" the man grumbled while thinking for a bit. "I know that Makoto is truly happy with me, or else she wouldn't have accepted my proposal. Perhaps what I need to do is assure her that I won't leave her to be with Naru, and that she vows not to do the same with Jouji. It might put her on the spot, but if I give her enough affection, she will learn to put Jouji behind her."

"And you can put Naru behind you too?"

Masato became quiet again. JunJun snapped, "Oy, don't go being a hypocrite here!"

"I don't want to be…"

Midori observed his pained expression before saying, "Perhaps it isn't because you love Naru enough to want to marry her. Your engagement to Makoto is proof of that. But you might still have lingering thoughts about her, as if you're unsatisfied unless you do something special with her before moving on."

Masato stared at Midori, his body so still that JunJun thought she was going to have the creeps. He sat back in his seat and let out a deep sigh, then murmured, "There was a promise I made to Naru, but I was betrayed and killed before I had the chance to fulfill it. My death, which was extremely violent, must have caused a tremendous shock to her. For me to see her again after I died…"

"I see. You think she wouldn't be able to accept that and your marriage to Makoto any more than your death. But you're forgetting that this is Crystal Tokyo, home of Neo Queen Serenity and the Silver Crystal that can grant miracles. That should be common knowledge among everyone here, right? Then it shouldn't be too farfetched if you tell her that the queen revived you to be one of the king's elite guardsmen."

"Yes, I had considered that. I just don't know if my revival will bring solace to Naru, or if it will just cause more pain."

"Oh, come on!" JunJun barked. "If I were her, I'd be happy to see you alive!"

Midori glared at her and grumbled, "You're not her."

"Grr… Fine, so I'm not. But all of this thumb-twiddling isn't gonna get us anywhere! We need a plan!"

"Of course," Masato said. "As much as I would like to talk to Naru, I want to sort things out with Makoto first. I don't want her to mistake me for going out with Naru behind her back when all I want to do is just speak with her."

"Perfect! Then you can talk with Naru after that! Heck, you could even bring Makoto along too! Aren't Naru and Makoto friends anyway?"

"More like acquaintances, but they're on good terms, yes."

Midori said, "Then JunJun and I won't interfere with you. I'm sure everything will reach a beneficial conclusion like that. My only concern is that collection of scandalous photos."

Masato gave the envelope back to her and said, "I was thinking of giving them back to Mr. Umino, but I would like to request you two to deliver them in my stead. Apparently he has more information about Jouji in this jump stick as well. Honestly, he really needs to learn a thing or two about delicacy with it comes to a lady's feelings."

"Who's Mr. Umino?"

JunJun explained, "I remembered who that awkward guy we met outside Naru's place was. His name's Umino Gurio, who used to go to school with Naru and the queen back in the 20th century. He runs a small computer repair business in Azabu."

Masato grumbled again, "And a makeshift detective service under the table as well. I ought to have a word or two with that fellow about proper business practices."

"One thing at a time, Mr. Sanjouin," Midori stopped him. "Tomorrow, JunJun and I will go see Mr. Umino and give him the stern words you have in mind."