PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE

Chapter 39: The Courage to Confess

Masato dropped Midori and JunJun back at the apartment complex, then returned to his home. He found Makoto busy with preparing food for a catering job, and she greeted him with a jovial, "Welcome back!"

"Yeah…"

"I'm almost done here, but I'd like some help with putting everything in the fridge."

"Sure…"

"Hm? You don't sound very energetic. Is something wrong?"

Masato faced his fiancée with a serious look, and Makoto could tell that he wanted to talk with her about an important issue. He said, "Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it? Have I done anything wrong?"

"No, you haven't. In fact, I think I should be the one saying that."

"What do you mean?"

Masato sat on the sofa, and his future wife poured some wine for both of them before joining him. After taking a sip, he lightly swirled the beverage in his glass with a listless gaze. Eventually he said, "Remember how much you like to talk about your old boyfriend, Yoshiwara Jouji?"

"Yes. I've been trying to cut back on that for you though," Makoto blushed a little. "If it still isn't enough, then-"

"It's okay. This doesn't have anything to do with you. I actually wanted to tell you that there's still someone in my past that I think of just as much as you do with him. I didn't want to say anything until the time was right, since I know how sensitive you are to people breaking your heart."

She was surprised to hear how considerate he was for her, and could sense that he was trying to choose his words carefully to not upset her. She held his hand and assured, "You don't have to be nervous about telling me. Who is this person that you still think of so much?"

"One of the queen's old friends from her high school days. Are you familiar with Osaka Naru, the owner of the Osa-P jewelry store?"

"A little. Was this back when you were one of Queen Beryl's servants?"

"Yes," Masato admitted, then explained everything about his brief relationship with Naru and how it ended on such a violent and traumatic note.

Makoto realized, "That was very shortly before I was discovered to be Sailor Jupiter, wasn't it? I never got to meet you back then, even though I remember our times together during the Silver Millennium."

"That's right. I wonder… Just maybe I was attracted to her because of how similar she looks to you. My memories must have been in a jumble, but I thought I could remember being with a brown-haired princess who wore a long green dress. I could never put a face to that girl though, so I must have used Naru's visage to complete the picture. It wasn't until the queen revived me and restored my memories that I remembered that princess actually being you."

"Queen Beryl must have really contaminated your memories, huh?"

Masato glanced at Makoto and asked, "You're not angry with me, are you? About being one of her pawns, and of showing affection to another woman?"

"Of course not! I know perfectly well that it all happened before we reunited in this lifetime! You're probably only thinking of Naru because you want to have some sense of closure with her before marrying me, right?"

"Exactly. It's what those girls JunJun and Midori told me as well."

"It's the same with me and Jouji. He left me behind so suddenly, and there are still a lot of things I want to say to him. I don't know what's become of him now, but just once I've love to tell him what I really felt about that time. I'll have to give up on that though, since there's no way I could possibly find him."

Masato's expression became stern as he recalled the adultery photos of Jouji. He brought a finger to his teeth and bit the skin to cope with his uneasiness.

"Actually…" he murmured, "… I know where he is."

"You do!?"

"But I have to warn you. What I'm about to say will not be pretty. Can you handle me revealing an extremely bitter truth about that man?"

Now it was Makoto's turn to feel unwell. She knew her lover was not a liar, so whatever he wanted to tell her had to be the truth, no matter how pleasant or terrible it may be. Even so, she believed that this would be the first test of their relationship – she could remember the many times her friends Usagi and Mamoru had gone through difficult times yet kept their love for each other strong. Makoto believed that it was her time to prove her resolve and love for Masato. She verbalized her determination with two simple words:

"Go ahead."

The next morning, JunJun and Midori headed out for another afternoon of 'shopping'. This time they went to a small store that sold and repaired electronic devices, owned by the hurried fellow they had met last night. Midori had agreed to keep the scandalous photos hidden in her room so that Chibi-Usa and the others would not find them by accident and start asking questions. She kept them tucked in one of her deep pockets as they left the apartments and scoured the neighborhood for the store.

"GuriGuri Electronics… This looks to be it," JunJun said, and the duo entered the shop.

Meanwhile, Varan followed behind the two girls with the brainwashed Jouji holding her hand as if they were dating. She had changed into a simple white blouse and purple skirt, but kept her lower face hidden behind a surgical mask. She glared with contempt at Midori, thinking of her betrayal against Naja during the previous battle.

Enjoy this day while you can, for soon I shall end your life with my spear thrust through your black heart.

The 'couple' watched the girls enter the store, so Varan opted to sit on a nearby bench while she whispered to Jouji, "They must be returning those nasty photos of you to that fool. You should do what is necessary to protect your precious multi-timing lifestyle, right?"

The young man silently lumbered forward and reached into his pocket for something…

The front of the messy electronics shop was very small and crammed with computers and devices for sale, while a large-screen television in the back blared classic Codename: Sailor V cartoons. The man with the glasses JunJun and Midori had seen before sat in a worn-out swivel chair working on cleaning a laptop of viruses.

"Ah, hey there, you two!" Umino called out with a wave. "Did you give Naru those photos bef- Ooomph!"

Without a word, they covered his mouth and forced him to go back with them to the shop's even smaller kitchen space. Umino yelped, "Hey, what's the problem!?"

"These are the problem!" JunJun snapped, showing him the envelope. "What kind of idiot just dumps these onto a girl's lap with no forethought as to how she'll feel!?"

"Eh? But Naru wanted me to follow that Jouji guy for her. She has seen those pictures, right?"

"No way, man! Even if she did ask you to stalk him, you should at least be by her side and console her instead of just expecting other people to do it for you! Aren't you two supposed to be school friends!?"

"Uh- Well, I was kind of busy, and well… I guess I'm not really good at that sort of thing," the young man sheepishly scratched his messy hair. "But you have to believe me; Naru was the one who asked me to follow him and give her any evidence of him cheating on her! I couldn't possibly do that kind of thing on my own!"

Midori asked, "Did she hire you?"

"Yeah. She came to me earlier this week saying some outrageous things about that Yoshiwara guy, and then offered me 250,000 yen if I could use my tech under the table to track him."

"Two-fifty!?" JunJun yelled. "You better not be pulling my leg, buster!"

"Of course I'm not! I have the receipt if you want proof!"

Umino showed the girls the piece of paper in question. Indeed, there was an advance deposit of 250,000 yen to the store, along with a delicate signature at the bottom. Midori read it over carefully and said, "There's no mistake. This is Osaka Naru's handwriting."

"Y-You're kidding…" JunJun uttered. "Why would she go so far to prove Jouji's relationship with her?"

Umino said, "She said some pretty crazy things to me, such as finding strange pills in her medicine cabinet, claiming that he 'works overtime hours' yet it doesn't show up in his pay stub, talking about the plot to a movie that she hadn't seen yet, redirecting his financial statements to his business, and lots of other things that kids your age shouldn't know about."

The girls looked at each other with a mix of annoyance and concern.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," Midori replied. "So if she paid you such an amount for your 'services', she must have been expecting major results from you, meaning that perhaps she wouldn't be as devastated as we originally thought. My question is why she would exercise such extreme caution in the first place. Simply ending the relationship on good terms and moving on with her life would solve all of her problems."

"Noooo, it ain't that easy!" Umino leaned in front of Midori's face and flashed such a bizarre grin that she thought she needed to pinch herself to wake up. "From what my inside sources tell me, Naru and Jouji didn't make a prenup prior to his engagement to her! It'll be big trouble for Naru if she tries to break up with him!"

"A preenutt?" JunJun asked, totally confused about what Umino was talking.

"Ugh… So that explains it," Midori grumbled and rubbed her forehead. She explained to her friend, "He meant prenup, short for prenuptial. Basically, it's a contract between two people prior to them being married, and if the terms are breached, the marriage is over and assets are divided according to the contract. It's not common in Japan due to this culture's belief on marriage, but it's widely used in other countries, especially among wealthy people to protect their assets from proverbial 'gold diggers'."

"Huh," JunJun tried to make sense of Midori's explanation. "So if Naru and Jouji didn't make a prenup…"

"It means that if they ever get a divorce, there's nothing preventing him from fighting to take as much of the Osaka family's fortune as possible during litigations. I imagine that Jouji would have a plan for making Naru look like the cheater while he paints himself as the innocent victim, thus allowing him to gain more money."

"EH!? So that's what Naru means to him!?" The Amazonian girl shot to her feet and yelled, "What a total scumbag! Gimme five minutes with him and I'll show him how Naru feels!"

"Easy, now," Midori forced her to sit back down. "These are only theories based on the facts we know. None of it might be true whatsoever."

Umino frowned hard and said, "But I'm still really worried for Naru! That's why I wanted to get that evidence for her as soon as possible!"

As the three were about to discuss what to do next, an unfamiliar voice called out over them, "Sorry, but I can't allow that to happen."

They turned around and found Yoshiwara Jouji blocking the doorway to the shop. To their total shock, he pointed a gun at them! He sneered with twisted malice and demanded, "All of you, get on the floor now."