"Vee," the silhouette cupped the blonde's chin in her hands. "I'll always love you. Please know that I always will love you, no matter what."
"There's no need to be so sweet. After all, I'm destined to never get my true love," the blonde sighed, taking the silhouette's hands off her chin.
"I know, but I want to help change that. There must be a way," the silhouette told the blonde. "Pick your head up, Vee. Happiness is soon to come. There's no doubt in my mind that happiness will come to you."
"Oh, you know I love you. You're my beautiful little flame," the blonde giggled, looking up at the silhouette with a smile.
The silhouette clutched the blonde's chin and began to dance with her.
And there was the faint dinging of an alarm bell in the background.
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A groggy Minako Aino smacked her trusty red alarm clock into the wall as her cat tried to scratch her awake. She peeled the cat off of her face, chastising it, and quickly grabbed her high school uniform to get dressed for the day. At 17, she needed to be ready for anything.
The blonde swapped out the bright red bow that she had worn the night before for one that looked exactly the same. Possibly a bit shinier to her, of course, but it looked the same as the other one to the naked eye. She posed happily for five minutes, glancing at her reflection in the mirror, before her cat decided otherwise.
Artemis leapt up on the high school student's bed of golden hair and stared down at her, ready to lecture the girl on how she should be concerned about how late she was getting up. A hand came onto the cat's back, pressing down hard, warning him not to say another word. With a soft sigh, Artemis looked at his partner. She'd certainly grown a lot since the two of them had first met.
"Some things never change," he muttered as she exited the room.
Minako glared at her cat before haphazardly stuffing her books and lunch bag into her satchel. Her mother, who annoyed the teen ever so much, wished her well and the blonde reluctantly gave the older woman a small wave before rushing out the door.
Finally! I'm ready for school! Sure, I'm late. But who could fault it! I don't have to get Rei-chan to drive me to school today!
Humming happily to herself, Minako rushed towards the school with the biggest grin on her face. At least she wouldn't get held up by anything this time. That is, until she bumped into someone that she could've sworn wasn't there. A cyclist.
"Geez, Venus! You have to be a little more careful next time!" the woman pedalling said, staring at the blonde.
Oh god, it's Haruka-san again! Please let Michiru-san convince her to go away before I scream at her...
"You again, Haruka-san," Minako huffed, glaring daggers at Haruka for a moment. "Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for you, your teasing or your dumb flirting today! I've got places to be!"
"Oh, sorry. Where did I hurt you, Ms. Venus? Do you want me to kiss your boo-boos?" Haruka teased.
Minako's whole body began to tense up as she began to storm away.
"Not likely," a serious voice cut through the impending argument. "Haruka-san, I seriously can't trust you to leave Minako-chan alone!"
Minako looked up to see a raven haired beauty in a T.A. Academy uniform. It was Rei!
"Come on, Mina-chan. Let's go. Haruka has to learn not to flirt when she is already in a relationship," Rei told Minako, grabbing the blonde's hand.
The blonde nodded as Rei clutched her hand, walking her to school for the first time in ages.
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Minako had reached the shrine after a long day. She had been to school and then two idol auditions. She was lucky that she managed to get there two minutes early. The blonde walked up the hill to the shrine and saw Rei sweeping up the autumn leaves on the old brick floor. Minako gave Rei a wave and walked towards her.
Rei directed the blonde to a stand that was selling good luck charms. She told Minako that not many girls had been today. She had lamented that there were usually hoards of girls lining up for charms. With a soft sigh, the blonde cleaned the bench of the wooden stall, humming to herself softly.
Minako's blue eyes met with Rei's violet ones for a short moment before concentrating on the task she had given her. She looked up at the sky. It was beginning to dim and the stars were starting to become visible. Rei was also looking up at the sky.
It looks beautiful tonight, but it seems odd. It just seems off. There are no crickets out and it's giving me chills.
"Lady? Blonde lady?" A soft voice was beginning to address the blonde.
"Hm?" The blonde looked down. "What are you doing here so late? Don't you have a curfew?" she asked the girl below her.
She was a student from Juban Middle School. Minako recognised that uniform from when she had first met Usagi and Ami. The middle schooler had brown hair tied into a ponytail. Her blue eyes met with the blonde's blue eyes for a moment.
I sense something. Something's about to happen to this middle schooler.
"Lady!" the brown haired middle schooler snapped Minako out of her trance.
"Oh... Sorry! I got a bit distracted," she admitted. "You'd like a charm, right?"
The middle schooler gave Minako a nod of affirmation. "A red one, please."
Minako gave Rei a look of defeat.
"I mean, it'll give us more business, and she came here so late," Rei told Minako, weighing up their options. "Go for it, it's not going to bring too much harm to us."
"I'm not in the position to sell these, but the head priestess said it was fine," the blonde mused, looking at the middle schooler. She handed the younger girl a red charm.
"Thank you so much!" The brown haired girl said graciously.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A woman with dark green hair was staring at them through a window.
"I think she would be perfect for this little initiative of ours! Go, my charming little spirit!"
A moth that was formed from purple gas flew forward.
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Minako noticed a purple moth coming towards the middle schooler. The moth appeared to fly right into the younger girl.
"Minako? How did your auditions go?" Rei asked as the middle schooler appeared to leave.
"Stressful. I never get the types of roles I want. I'm probably gonna be a tree. I don't want to be known for being a tree."
Rei chuckled. "What makes you think you would be a bad tree?"
The two girls suddenly heard a bloodcurdling scream.
"Heh heh heh! Charmy, charm charm! Charm now!" A red monster that looked like an omamori materialised in front of Rei and Minako.
"Minako-chan?"
"I know."
"Mars Crystal Power..."
"Venus Crystal Power..."
"MAKE UP!"
YOU ARE READING
Venus' Flame
FanfictionMinako's mind has been running wild with weird dreams and premonitions, and she doesn't know quite how to deal with it. The only thing she thinks of doing is phoning a friend. Rei finds it hard to admit at first, but she wants to be closer to Minako...
