Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
The Second Story

AN: When one is speaking Japanese, there is a tendency to trail off when one is uncertain or about to say something rude or negative that might be offensive to the listener. While I usually hate using '...' in stories, as there's so many other ways to express that particular part of speech, I've decided to include it simply because it actually makes sense to have them there. So don't mind them, there's a reason for them.

Tokyo, Summer, Present Day

Aino Minako hung up her cell phone and turned to smile serenely at the slightly taller, curly-haired woman that was standing by the door. She allowed herself to switch easily into the English language, as she usually did when speaking to the woman that she'd worked with for nearly two years on her most recently CD release. While they both spoke the other's native language, Minako thought that it was polite to attempt to communicate in Michiru Kaiou's native language, as no one else was doing that for her here. "I'm sorry, Michiru, but I've got a dinner meeting tonight. Can I take a rain-check on the final production meeting?"

Michiru put her finger in her mouth as though she was nervous about something. "I suppose, but you're cutting it really close, Minako." She crossed her arms and frowned slightly. Minako wondered what exactly it was bothering her so much that she would act so uncharacteristically antsy. "We're going to promote this thing next week and we still have yet to fully finalize what exactly we're doing with some of the material."

Minako sank back down into her chair. "I know that you don't like it here." She said quietly. She understood why Michiru wanted to push the meetings forward as planned, and she understood why it was so vitally important for the two of them to be on the same page as they got ready for the Japan tour. "And I know that you're sacrificing a lot to be here with me for this tour, but I have friends here. Real people that I see barely once a year because of my schedule."

The curly-haired woman shook her head. "I know that you want to see them, and I totally understand." She looked a little nervous for a minute, making Minako wonder just what it was that she was thinking. Usually, Minako was good at reading people, but Michiru Kaiou was a closed book, and had been since day one of their business relationship. "I've never done a tour in Japan, just a few concerts. You can understand then, if I seem a little bit antsy to make sure that I have all the details worked out perfectly well ahead of time." She grinned at Minako, "Since I need to plan out my own time to see my friends."

Minako laughed. "Of course."

They parted ways some two hours later, after Minako had taken the time to actually sit down with Michiru and explain to her some of the more complicated aspects of what happened when she was on tour to Michiru. Their concerts were going to be interesting, to say the least, as Minako could not shake the sensation that Michiru was watching her every movement as if she was waiting for something. Minako had not experienced a feeling like that since she'd found herself being stalked by Hino Rei – Sailor Mars – all those years ago. What was Michiru waiting for?

Minako was not sure that she wanted to know.

She paused in the studio's bathroom and pinned her hair up into something that could be called a loose bun, if one wanted to really stretch the definition of what a 'bun' was. Really, Minako had just piled her hair on top of her head and pinned it place. This was how she blended into the crowd these days, and she wanted to make sure that it still worked. Aino Minako never wore her hair up like this, and with a pair of sunglasses and a hat, no one would look at her twice.

And if they did, she would simply respond that the real Aino Minako had a much nicer figure than she did. It usually got even the most persistent fans off of her back.

Blending into a crowd was something that she did well. She collected her purse and checked herself one more time in the mirror.

Rei would probably say that she looked like a tramp when she arrived at Usagi's apartment.

She can say what she wants, I haven't ridden the subway in ages. Minako thought with a contented smile. From inside her purse, Artemis rolled his eyes up at her and she winked at him.

He always was a little too paranoid for his own good, but Minako was not about to risk talking to him in such a public place. She'd gotten sick of getting written up in the tabloids as being insane due to the intense conversations that she seemed to have with herself and had told Artemis that he really shouldn't talk when they were out in public. It was bad for their image, and as much as she valued their friendship, she did not like being called insane by everyone who knew her professionally. Even Michiru (fairly eccentric, if Minako did say so herself) had given her odd looks the first time that Minako had rounded on Artemis after a particularly snide comment he'd made about her choice of subject matter for this new album.

Still, Minako loved Artemis and he loved her. It was just part of their relationship to be just a little bit foolish with each other.

She took the train and was shockingly left alone. It was the five o'clock rush and no one was bothering to look at anything other than their newspapers and cell phones as they rushed to get home after a long day's work. The crush of people all around her was not something that Minako had experienced in a long time, and she relished the sensation of being completely alone in such a public place.

Minako smiled broadly as she stepped off of the train at Usagi's station and made her way out of the station. This was really where she was going to have to be careful, and the sound of quickly running feet behind her made her skin prickle. She knew who it was, almost instinctively, and she plastered her best smile onto her face as she turned to face her would-be stalker.

"Rei." She said. She would have said 'Mars' or something else that was sure to get on the former fire senshi's nerves, but there was something about the way that the woman looked at her that made her pick to simply call the woman by her given name.

"Minako," the other woman panted out. "Need – to talk to you."

Minako raised an eyebrow and waited for the winded woman to continue.

Rei straightened herself up and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. She looked nervous, Minako noticed, and adorably anxious. "Last night I had a vision."

Suddenly, the world turned very serious. Minako, falling into the mode of leader and Sailor Venus almost without a second thought, grabbed Rei's elbow and pulled her into an alley way where they would not be disturbed. "What did you see, Mars?" she demanded.

Was this what Artemis had been so worried about, the new threat that might come at some time and threaten their very way or life? In the past life, Mars Reiko had always been talented at reading the future in flame and that ability had saved Minako's life more times than she cared to remember. She always trusted those visions, even if she was not at all ready to accept that they might be, once more, called into battle.