PGSM: The Second Story
an: Caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
Tokyo, Summer, Present Day
Hino Rei slept deeply for the first time in weeks; her dreams were not plagued by the horrors of the coming silence. She was grateful for the sleep, but the thoughts that troubled even her sleeping mind were hard to combat. She was unable and unwilling to allow Venus to hide behind the decorum of the past and her perceived duty to the moon princess from so long ago. The vision of the silence had not been discussed between them when they had been together without Usagi earlier – and Rei still was not quite sure why.
She hated how Minako would hide behind the mask of the past life, even today. They were powerless shells of what they once had been, yet the former Venusian Senshi seemed far more attached to her role in the past life than the one she held today. There was something that was positively infuriating about it; as that Rei had declared that world long dead to her – spitting on its memory. It was foolish to dwell in the past as Minako did. She had gotten a lot better about it since they'd being given a second chance at life, but her reverence to Usagi and the way that she carried herself around the others was hard to miss.
Or at least it was to Rei. She'd mentioned Minako's behavior to Ami once, in passing after a particularly infuriating conversation with their leader – and Ami had not noticed anything wrong with the way that the Venusian Senshi carried herself. It was as though it was Rei's job to question everything, something she was uncomfortable with, and struggled with even now when their powers were long gone.
She hated to appear weak, but she would never admit it to anyone – least of all the infuriating woman that called herself their leader.
It wasn't as though Minako was ever around to be a leader anyway – always jet setting around the world and being hard to reach on the phone. She should be here, with them – with me.
Rei pushed that thought violently out of her head before it could really get going. She would never admit to anyone that she knew more than she let on about Minako's mythical past life. She knew that doing so was violating orders, and that she had a duty and a mission to fulfill that she was actively ignoring. She didn't remember the warriors that they'd seen the previous night, but she knew her fear of them. She knew what their presence implied and what it meant in terms of the safety of the princess.
She did not like this. The visions spelled a certain doom, death for all of them – death for Minako – no one deserved this after what they'd all been through.
Rolling over, Rei tried to will her mind quiet once more. She needed the sleep – tomorrow she had to go back to the grind of the company and the disdainful pressure to succeed.
-
The hotel hallways were silent as Michiru Kaioh crept along them and back to her room. There had been more attacks tonight, and they had once again been unsuccessful in finding the talisman that they so desperately needed to find. Her breath was still coming in shallow pants from the exertion of defeating these new enemies without Pluto – the dark skinned woman had cryptically said that she was unable to travel to Japan at the present moment. Michiru knew that there was another reason for her absence, but she thought it wise to not push the issue as Setsuna was notoriously difficult to get a straight answer out of.
She paused, her ears straining against the ringing silence of the long hallway. There, yes, there were footsteps moving quickly down the hallway towards her. Panicked, Michiru slowed her pace as she tried to think of a reasonable excuse to be out of her room, fully dressed at three in the morning. Neptune's consciousness within her own laughed as she frantically thought, telling her that she should just give up now – for a warrior would never be questioned for fighting such a battle.
The problem was, Michiru reasoned, that no one in this damn country minded their own business. They pretended like they did, but in reality, it was fake concern and the need to gossip that drove these people. She hated that – hated the feeling that she was being constantly scrutinized for no apparent reason. She knew that she had to push past it though, and simply deal with the fact that the attacks were here now, near to the princess whose kingdom she swore an oath long ago to protect.
She would guard them with her life.
You will find the talisman and prevent the silence.
Around a bend in the corner came the very recognizable form of Aino Minako incognito. She was wearing a windbreaker and a Yankees cap pulled low over her eyes to attempt to conceal her identity – but it was no good as Michiru recognized her almost instantly.
"Can't sleep Aino-san?" She asked quietly, watching with a somewhat bemused smile as the idol jumped at the sudden break in her reverie. Michiru, despite the fact that she hated the language and the people here, found herself enjoying the subtle ways that she could tease others in this language. It was almost fitting, honestly.
Minako reached up and pulled her hat off, her hair falling down around her face as she grinned. She was shorter than Michiru, but she carried herself with the poise that the violinist only wished she possessed. "The city is far more forgiving of celebrity at night."
Okay that was cryptic.
She didn't understand the life this girl lead, and Michiru was not going to bother trying to get more of the truth out of the idol, as she had a pretty good idea what the idol had really been out doing – but it wasn't her place to question her, at least not now.
Staying away from the Inner Senshi as much as she possibly could was the best course of action that Michiru could see at the moment and she fully intended to follow it.
Still, her curiosity peaked as Minako's fist was clenched around a sheet of paper covered with a backwards and swirling lettering that looked almost like Arabic.
Venusian. The girl is a fool for leaving it so openly visible.
Michiru was not aware that the princess' guard had such a clear grasp of the past life. She knew, from interacting with Minako, that there were distinct memories of the past life that the girl possessed – but to write such an ancient and complicated language was unexpected.
"Well, Aino-san, you should get some sleep and not give in to the wandering hands of the muses and their midnight mania." She gestured to the paper in Minako's hand.
The idol blinked and slipped the paper into the jacket of her windbreaker, as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Thank you, I will do just that."
-
The paper was burning a hole in her hand. She could not handle the impact of looking at it. She hated defiance, for it upset the careful balance of control that she had established in her life.
The heat in her hand built and the paper soon began to smoke – before vanishing in a puff of smoke and flames.
Aino Minako hated being told what to do. She was a good soldier, but she had promised to protect the princess and those she loved. She had promised to do a great many things that she was now leaving off for the sake of her career – for Rei – for Usagi. For the sake of having friends and people she cared about really.
In the past they had not really been able to afford that luxury.
The ashes of her orders fell from her clenched fist.
They should not have asked her to back down from a fight.