Alone No More: Minako's Story
by Jason C. Ulloa


Chapter 2

Ryoku watched from a distance as Minako began to go through a gymnastics routine for gym 
class. She agilely and easily swung herself over the bar again and again, building up the 
necessary speed for her dismount. From the look on her face, she was determined to pull off 
some difficult maneuver. He glanced over at Hikaru standing next to him. She shrugged as 
she rolled her eyes in chagrin. She must've been thinking the same thing he was.

Minako let go of the bar, tucked in her knees and performed a somersault with a half-twist. 
Just before she was about to land, she spotted a white cat with a crescent moon on its 
forehead looking up at her.

"What? A cat? Watch out!!!" Minako shouted as she fell to the ground.

"Mrrrooowww!!!"

Too late.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded of the cat as she got up off it, then glared 
around her. "Who put that cat right where I was going to land?!?" Ryoku and Hikaru 
shrugged. Neither one had seen the cat until she was right over it.

"Hey!" the gym teacher shouted angrily. "Aino Minako! What kind of stunt are you 
pulling?!?"

"Okay...," she grumbled to herself as she walked back to the vertical bar.

"You okay?" Ryoku asked later, after she was finished.

"Yeah...," Minako sighed. "If it wasn't for that cat, I would have made a perfect landing."

"Well... you did want to make an impression, Mina...," Hikaru replied.

"Too bad it was on the mat and that white cat," Ryoku commented wryly.

"Ryo-kun!" she said disapprovingly, but with a hint of a laugh in her voice. She quickly 
covered her mouth to hide the smirk that was slowly creeping its way onto her face.

"Very funny," Minako muttered as she irritably crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry, Minako-san," he said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head in chagrin. 
"I couldn't help it."

Minako humphed loudly, then let it drop. "Never mind, Ryo-kun," she said with a grin. "I 
know you were only kidding."

"You seem pretty happy today," Hikaru noted.

"Yeah, I wonder why?" Ryoku added sarcastically.

"Hmm...," Minako said with a impish grin on her face. "I wonder why, indeed...." She pulled 
a folded letter out of her pocket and glanced down at the name written on it. 'To 
Higashi-senpai.' A love letter to her latest crush.

Now, if only she could find the opportunity to deliver it....

            **********************************************

In gym class the next day, Minako waited paitiently in a line to return volleys for 
volleyball. The girl in front of her darted forward and leaped into the air. She connected 
with the ball, spiking it back over the net.

"Okay, next!" the teacher called out. "Aino!"

Minako stepped forward and nodded, indicating that she was ready. The ball was served 
toward her over the net. She quickly rushed forward to meet the ball, leaped into the air, 
and sent the ball flying back with a powerful spike.

"Good," the teacher commented. "Next!"

Minako returned to her spot at the end of the volleyball court. She then glanced over at 
the next court. 'Next to the volleyball court is the boys' basketball court,' she thought 
to herself. 'And there's that guy.... As soon as he transferred here, he became instantly 
popular. Higashi-senpai.'

A handsome black-haired boy effortlessly shot his basketball at the basket and sank his 
shot in. He grinned smugly, as if he knew all along that his shot would've gone in.

"Hey! Hey!" one girl exclaimed to the others around her. "Out of the way! Be quiet! I'm 
trying to watch Higashi-senpai!"

'He's always got those older girls around him,' Minako thought dispairingly. 'It's 
impossible to get close to him.'

As she continued to watch, Higashi shot a few more baskets, then picked up his ball and 
started to leave. 'Oh, he's going somewhere!' Minako realized anxiously. 'This is my 
chance! I'm going to give him the love letter.' She quickly gathered up her courage and ran 
forward. "Senpa-!"

Suddenly, the white cat jumped out in front of her, halting her in her tracks.

"It's that cat...!" she exclaimed in frustration at being kept from delivering her love 
letter.

"Oh, a cat!" a girl said as she spotted the white cat. "It's cute!"

"A cat?" another girl asked. "Oh! It is cute!"

"Where?" a third girl called out. "Oh, there it is!"

Higashi continued to walk away as the girls gather around Minako, admiring 'her' cat.

"Hey, senpai?!?" she called out in a last attempt to get his attention. Unfortunately, her 
call was lost over the chatter of the girls surrounding her. "He's leaving! Ohh...."

            **********************************************

Minako sat in the room for class B of the 7th grade course at the Glory Cram School, 
stuffing a burger and fries into her mouth. Beside her, Hikaru watched Minako stuff herself 
as Ryoku watched the door for any sign of the teacher. Every once and a while, he would 
glance over at her and marvel at how she could manage to stuff her mouth like that and not 
choke.

"Mina, hurry and finish eating!" Hikaru urged. "Ryo-kun just told me that the teacher's 
coming!"

"Just a second!" she replied between mouthfuls out food.

"Too late," Ryoku said as the teacher walked in and immediately spotted Minako stuffing her 
face.

"Aino!" the teacher snapped. "Are you goofing off again!? Here's your last math test! 27 
percent! You need to be using your time for studying!"

"But... I was hungry!" she retorted. "I didn't have enough to eat! I was exercising, so I 
worked up a big appetite."

"So your appetite is more important than your intelligence...," the teacher said 
disdainfully. Minako gave the teacher an indignant stare as the rest of the test scores 
were read off.

The white cat watched them through the window. "She's got lots of problems," he said, 
seemingly to himself as he held a decorated pen in his mouth. "Makes me a little nervous 
about the future."

"But, she is the right one, Artemis," said a female voice coming from the pen.

"I know, boss."

"Here are last month's exam results," the teacher continued while writing several test 
scores on the board. "They are very disappointing. Especially in math. And so, you're going 
to get some help from the 8th and 9th grade students of class A. Then you'll try it one 
more time."

Some older students entered the classroom. One in particular caught Minako's attention. 
'It's Higashi-senpai!' she thought to herself. 'He goes to this cram school, too!' As he 
approached her, she could feel her pulse race with anxiety. 'All right! He's going to be 
teaching me! I'm so lucky!'

"So, ready to start?" Higashi asked with a small smile.

"Y-y-yes!" she stammered nervously.

"You've got long hair," he noted. "It's very ladylike."

The comment caught her off guard. "What!?"

"It would be nice if you put a ribbon on the back. A big, red ribbon."

"Higashi-kun," another girl called out. "Come here a sec."

"All right, Haneda," he replied as he went over to her. 

Minako watches as they talk. "Higashi-senpai and Haneda-senpai are in a good mood. They 
seem like a good match when they're together. Could she be his.... No! He doesn't have a 
girlfriend. Everyone says that. I'll work very hard, and I'll get him! Attack, Mina!" she 
said encouragingly to herself as she brandished a fist into the air overhead.

"Aino..." a boy said. "Look at yourself. Being a rude girl will frighten Higashi-senpai 
away."

She raised a fist under his nose. "What did you say!?" she growled as she jumped at the boy 
and beat him senseless.

Ryoku winced in sympathy for the boy. "That really had to hurt."

"Uhh...," he moaned. "She really isn't a girl...."

"Higashi-senpai's leaving!" Minako muttered as she ran out of the classroom. "I never gave 
him the love letter."

She halted as she spotted the white cat in the hallway in front of her. "What?!?" she 
growled in frustration. "You again! Where did you come from!? You're beginning to bug me. 
Oh no!" she exclaimed as she ran outside. "Senpai? He's gone! It's your fault." She turned 
back to see that the cat was gone. "Hey! Where'd that cat go...?"

"Mina!" Hikaru called out as she and Ryoku came out after her. "Did you give it to him yet? 
The letter?"

"No, I think he left already," she replied.

"Too bad," Ryoku said dryly with a small shrug. "Maybe you can try again tomorrow?"

"He's always got those big girls around, though, guarding him," Hikaru added. "Finding an 
opportunity might be hard."

"Well, knowing Minako, she'll find a way. Na, Minako?" Ryoku replied with a smirk.

            **********************************************

On the way home, Minako climbed over the wall next to her house. "Just a little 
shortcut...," she said to herself with a smug grin as she entered her house.

"Mina!" her mom shouted as soon as she saw her. "You climbed over that wall again, didn't 
you. Your uniform is all dirty! Can't you act a little more ladylike?"

She decided that she wasn't going to answer that question. "I'll be in the bath," she 
muttered flatly.

After closing the bathroom door and removing all her clothes, she wrapped a towel around 
her body. "So, Higashi-senpai likes girls like Haneda-senpai." She looked at herself in the 
mirror and sighed. "Oh, I wish I could be pretty."

"You can," a male voice said behind her. "Originally, you were born with the protection of 
the goddess of beauty."

She whirled around and saw the white cat sitting on the windowsill behind her.

"Greetings, Mina," he continued. "I am Artemis."

Minako screamed and ran out of the bath and into her room, slamming the door shut behind 
her. It took her a moment to realize that she was still wrapped up in only a towel.

"I don't believe this!" she growled to herself. "A cat talking and peeping at me." After 
she said that, she realized how absurd it sounded. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Artemis jumped up to her window and sat down. "That was a rather extreme reaction." He then 
hopped down onto her bed. "You do adapt to things quickly. Weren't you prepared? 

"Anyway, Mina, inside you is a girl with the power to transform into a woman stronger and 
more beautiful than anyone. Mina, you have been chosen."

"Wait a sec," Minako said, frowning in confusion. "You are a cat. So how are you talking?!? 
Are you hiding a tape or something? And I have a girl inside me? How was I chosen? And just 
where did you come from?"

In response to her rapid-fire questioning, a crescent-shaped object flew at her. She deftly 
snatched it out of the air and stared down at it.

"That's proof I'm not lying," Artemis said. "Just open that compact."

She opened it and saw her face being reflected. There were a few differences, though. A red 
mask covered her eyes, and a crescent moon appeared on her forehead.

"A crescent moon...?" she breathed in surprise. A light suddenly flashed, momentarily 
blinding her. When she regained her sight, she found herself in space, looking down at 
Earth. "This is...!"

"You see?" Artemis said encouragingly. "Now you're in space. That's the planet you're 
supposed to protect. Earth."

"Space?!?" she squeaked. "Earth?!?"

He pointed to another planet. "That is your mother star, the fiery planet of the goddess 
Venus. Its size and weight are about the same as Earth's. It's composed of the same 
elements. Venus is called Earth's twin planet."

"What's that floating over the planet?"she asked, spying a bright speck slowly orbiting 
over the surface of the planet.

"Magellan," he answered. "Magellan Castle. It floats over the land of Aphrodite. It's your 
castle."

"My castle?!?" It was one surprise after another with this cat....

Artemis took out the pen. "Mina," the female voice spoke from the pen. "You carry the 
protection of the fiery planet. You were born to fight. You have a mission. Only you can do 
it. You have been chosen by fate, Minako."

Suddenly, Minako felt a wave of dizziness hit her, causing her to fall.

"Venus!" Artemis called out.

"Venus?" she thought. "Who's that?"

Minako suddenly sat up in bed. "Me?" she said in perplexity. "That was a strange dream." 
She got up and dressed herself, then tied a red ribbon into her hair. "When did I go to 
bed, anyway?"

An envelope fell to the ground as she slipped into her school uniform. She picked it up. 
"The love letter! I forgot! Well, today I'll have to give it to him."

            **********************************************

Higashi slowly walked to school, surrounded by girls. Another girl tried to join them, but 
got pushed away.

"Get out of here, loser," one of Higashi's girls sneered.

"His groupies...," Minako observed. "They're all with him again."

"Heh, heh, heh...," Higashi mumbles to himself. "All these girls... Made to be my slaves." 
He took out a cellular phone and pressed a button, causing an image of a woman to appear on 
its viewscreen.

"Narkissos," the woman said. "Get more and more of these brainwashed slaves, so we can rule 
this city.... No, all Japan! Make us a foothold."

"I understand, Fluorite-sama," he said with a sly grin. "I will carry out your orders." He 
closed the phone, then looked up to see Artemis watching him. He smiled and walked away.

Artemis still carried the pen in his mouth. "Boss," he said urgently. 
"That's...!"

"It is," Boss replied.

Minako runs after him. 'Mina,' she remembered Hikaru telling her. 'Ryo-kun found out that 
Higashi-senpai always eats lunch alone in the back garden. It's your chance!'

'Just don't let him know that I told you,' Ryoku added. 'He was suspicious enough when he 
saw me following him.'

"Thanks, Hikaru-chan! Ryo-kun!" Minako said out loud, as if they could hear her. "Now I can 
give him the love letter, and profess my love! He's got to like me. I'm even wearing a red 
ribbon. Ehehe!"

Artemis jumped down from a tree in front of her, stopping her.

"You should stop chasing after that guy," he told her warningly.

"Who is that talking!?" she all but screamed. "Stop playing this joke on me! Get out of my 
way."

"Mina," Artemis said, following her with his eyes. "Do you really not remember me?"

Minako gasped as she saw Haneda walking up to where Higashi was sitting. "That's... 
Higashi-senpai and Haneda-senpai!"  She was too late again.

"Higashi-kun," Haneda said as she walked up to him. "Since you're so popular, I haven't 
been able to talk to you. I really...."

"I really like you, too," Higashi interjected with a smile. "I think it's good you're so 
ladylike. Especially that red ribbon in your hair. I love it."

The words hit Minako like a wrecking ball. 'It would be nice if you put a ribbon on the 
back,' he had told her before. 'A big, red ribbon.'

She turned around and started to walk away. "Hmph. Guess I knew it all along. They love 
each other. So I won't even bother. There's plenty of guys. I'll find someone else to like."

"Mina!" Artemis shouted urgently but she didn't bother to turn around.

Higashi then turned into a monster and grabbed Haneda. "From now on, you will be my slave 
too! This school.... No, this city will be mine!"

Minako heard a scream behind her. She rushed back, and peeked through some trees. 
"Higashi-senpai! No way! What's... that strange light?!?"

Narkissos looked back and spotted Minako looking through the trees. "I see you. You, too, 
will join me. You will be my slave!"

"Mina!" Artemis shouted as he tossed the pen to her. She quickly snapped it out of the air 
and glanced down at it.

"Can you hear me, Mina?" says a female voice from the pen.

"What!?" Minako gasped in shock.

"Just call me Boss," the voice said. "There's no time for a full explanation! That guy is 
an enemy! Only you can stop him. You need to transform, defeat him, and save everyone!"

"An enemy?!? Transform?!?" she asked in confusion. "I'm supposed to beat him?!? Just how 
am I going to do that!?"

Narkissos raised his arm, causing waves to surround Minako.

'I... can't move!' she thought. 'My mind is getting foggy....'

"Mina!" Artemis shouted. "Hold up the pen! Transform! Shout, 'Moon Power Transform!'"

She struggled to lift the pen overhead. "Moo... Moon Power Transform!!" Light filled her 
body. "Wh-what?!? I'm free! I'm full of power! I can feel it!"

"Who are you!?" Narkissos asked warily.

She appeared in a fancy sailor fuku, with a red mask over her eyes. "Codename: Sailor V! 
The soldier of justice, the sailor-suited beautiful soldier. I am Sailor Venus!"

"Damn!" he growled as he pointed toward her. "Get her!!" One of the girls ran at her. 
Sailor V jumped into the air and kicked the girl, flooring her.

"Senpai!?" she called out. "Come to your senses! Senpai!"

"Mina!" Artemis shouted. "That guy isn't human! He's an enemy! Beat him!"

Sailor V hesitated. "But...!"

"You impudent fool!" Narkissos shouted, approaching her. "You will die!"

"Mina!" Artemis yelled. "He'll kill you if you don't stop him! Use your crescent beam! Do 
it with your compact! You'll see his true form! His form as an enemy!"

She opened the compact. "Crescent Beam!" As the compact opened, she saw a twisted face, 
destroyed by the beam of light. She gasped in shock; that was the true form of the boy she 
previously had a crush on. Stunned, she walked by all the girls lying on the ground. With 
Narkissos destroyed, they would recover soon enough.

"Mina!" Artemis called out as he followed her.

            **********************************************

Artemis looked down at Minako as she lay on her bed, fast asleep.

"Boss," he said penitently to the pen, "my way of doing things was too forceful...."

"Artemis," the voice replied, "from now on, you'll be Minako's partner, and you'll work 
together. She's confused. Show her the way."

He jumped off of the windowsill and onto the bed, and went to her. He gently licked her 
neck, waking her.

"Hey...," she said groggily. "That tickles." She turned over and lifted him up. "Oh, it's 
you."

"Artemis," he said. "Call me Artemis."

"Okay... Artemis."

"Can I open the window?" he asked. "There's a beautiful full moon. You need to put the 
compact in the full moon's light to charge it."

After Minako placed Artemis back onto the windowsill, she got back into bed. Artemis sat on 
the windowsill, watching her again.

"Good night, Mina. Sweet dreams."

            **********************************************

"All right," Minako said after getting dressed. "This ribbon is nice after all." It 
complemented her preferred hairstyle and it did make her seem more ladylike. She idly 
wondered if Ryoku would notice that she was keeping her hair ribbon. He did say that he 
liked it when he first saw it. Oddly, it made her feel better hearing Ryoku say that he 
liked how she looked with the ribbon than when Higashi said it. With her new ribbon tied 
into her hair, she left her house and walked to school. Artemis sat outside, waiting for 
her.

"Morning, Mina," he greeted.

"Good morning, Artemis," she replied pleasantly.

"Good morning, Minako-san," Ryoku called out as he walked up to her. "Hey, isn't that the 
white cat that kept appearing around you?" he asked when he spotted Artemis. "Did you 
decide to adopt him or something?"

She grinned as a thought came to her. "Yeah, I guess so," she replied. "His name's Artemis."

"Morning, Artemis," he said to the cat. "I'm Kino Ryoku, a friend of your mistress." A 
thought occured to him. "Minako-san, did you hear that Higashi-senpai got transferred 
again? Something about a family emergency, so he couldn't even show up at school today to 
check out."

She was about to reply to that when she heard someone calling her name. "Mina!" Hikaru 
called out as she ran to Minako. "Hey! Look at this book!" She showed Minako a page with a 
teenage boy on it. "See! It's a new idol. Now, I don't normally go for this idol stuff, but 
this boy is just so hot! Uhh... Mina?"

Minako all but buried her face into the magazine. "He's so cool!!" She handed it back to 
Hikaru and walked off. "I'm right! This world is still full of cool guys! So I've decided. 
I'll study hard, and I'll go to that guy's concert!"

Artemis sighed as Ryoku glanced over at him. "Don't worry about Minako-san, Artemis," he 
told him as if he expected the cat to understand what he was saying. Not that Artemis was 
about to tell him that he could understand him, anyway. "She may act strange at times, but 
she's a wonderful girl. You just have to get used to her."

Artemis rolled his eyes. 'Get used to her?' he thought to himself. 'I'll have to. I'm her 
partner.' He looked over at Ryoku consideringly. 'Strange... I feel as if I should know 
this boy....'

            **********************************************

Short Author's Note: Yeah, I know Minako's supposed to be Sailor Venus, but remember, this 
is from the Codename wa Sailor V manga, which has her using the phrase 'Moon power 
transform!' for Sailor V.

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs 
to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This 
story belongs me, so I would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before 
posting it anywhere else. Thank you.

The Question and all stories included are:
Copyright © July 6, 2001 Jason C. Ulloa. 
Manga translation by Alex Glover © 1996
All Rights Reserved.