Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Future Imperfect- Makoto and Minako's Journey ❯ Chapter 1: Reminiscing ( Chapter 2 )

A Future Imperfect- Makoto and Minako's Journey
Chapter 1: Reminiscing


A/: I’m reuploading this, hopefully the formatting will be fixed now. This is my first attempt at a Sailor Moon story. I’m just posting the first chapter to see what kind of feedback I get. Areas of concern are the main idea and the flow of the story, so constructive criticism, please. If there’s something wrong, please point it out without a flame. Thanks!

Keep in mind that this was not pre-read by anyone beyond the first half, so despite me looking over it, mistakes may have slipped through… also, those familiar with my form of humor should like this chapter, even if they don’t know much about Sailor Moon…

Here’s my disclaimer for this story, before I go any further:

I don’t own any of the characters used here. The Sailor Moon series and characters are property of Naoko Takeuchi and Ranma ½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Now onto the story!



Several months have passed since the events of Sailor Stars. Winter is almost upon Japan; preparations for the Christmas season are already underway. The lightly falling snow that is filling the air fills Makoto’s mind with thoughts of the future… the future that she seen a few years ago when battling the Wiseman/Doom Phantom. A future that showed only one pairing, one couple- Usagi and Mamoru. The rest of the Sailor Senshi appeared to be single… which does not bode well with Makoto at all…

Clutching a framed photo to her chest, Makoto Kino tried to control her emotions. 'Mom... Dad...'

Tears flow down her face as she relives painful memories of times gone by. The words “I’m sorry…” echo through her mind. The painful realization that they were gone forever didn’t hit until the funeral and burial ceremonies. Despite what happened, Makoto made a vow to try and stay strong, to live her life as best she can.

‘I know I shouldn’t be doing this… but I can’t help it. The possible future… could be just as painful as the present.’ Makoto pauses and wipes the tears from her eyes. ‘I want to fall in love, get married, start a family… can that happen? I don’t like being alone…’

Makoto begins to think about the current reality… and what her situation is now. ‘You’ve got friends, you’re not alone. That’s different, though, than having a male friend… a lover…’


Makoto is so lost in thought that she fails to notice the familiar sound of her doorbell chime filling the air. A few seconds pass and then Makoto hears someone knocking on her door.

“Hey Makoto! Open up! We were supposed to eat lunch together!” A voice calls from outside.

After realizing who’s calling her name and remembering what time of day it is, Makoto quickly gets on her feet and walks over to the door. As she opens the door, she’s greeted by a smiling Minako…

“What took you so long?”

“Oh… it was nothing… sorry to make you wait…” Makoto replies as she turns her face away.

Minako walks into the apartment and begins thinking about the way her friend is acting… ‘Something’s not right here… I just know it. She’s not acting like her usual self…’

Makoto closes the front door and sits down on the couch. She motions her friend to sit down next to her, which she does.

“What’s in the bag?” She asks, nodding at the bag in question.

“Our super special lunch of course!” Minako pauses for a moment and pulls out two Styrofoam containers. “I got one for each us…”

Minako passes one of the containers to Makoto, who peeks inside the lid. A pleasant aroma fills her nostrils as she gazes upon her friend’s lunch pick… Okonomiyaki.

“I haven’t had one of these in a long time…” Makoto says as she eyes the contents of the container.

“Dig in… I’m sure you’re probably hungry…” Minako says as she opens her own container and begins to eat the Okonomiyaki inside…

“Where’d yah get this from?” A curious Makoto asks.

“Oh… some place I found over in the Nerima district. The cook kinda looked like you, but she had the largest spatula I’d ever seen…” Minako replies back.

“O-kay…” Is the reply back from Makoto, who honestly doesn’t know what to say.


The two young ladies eat in silence, Makoto thinks about what to say to her friend… and Minako tries to figure out the situation.

The blonde is the first to finish and decides to speak her mind. “Soo… what’s on your mind?”

A soft sigh escapes Makoto’s lips. “A lot of things, actually… I’ve been thinking about the future…”

“The future… hmmm…” Minako thinks about that for a few moments. “Do you mean the future of the Sailor Soldiers or…”
“No… the future that we saw a couple years ago… the one with Crystal Tokyo. The more I think about it… the more messed up it seems. Most of the world was… unusable. Usagi was the only one that actually had a man…”


Hearing her friend yet again reveal her desire to have a male companion, Minako nods her head. “You know what… you’re right. I’m not doing very well in that department myself… and now that you mention it… that future didn’t look too good, did it?”

“No…”


The two teens silently think about the problem- Makoto is the first to figure a plausible course of action.


“Why don’t we go talk to Setsuna? She’s supposed to be the keeper of time, right? Maybe she could give us some answers…”

Enthusiastically, Minako gets on her feet. “Good idea! She’d definitely know… and maybe we could even find out about… you know… future prospects…”

“Minako!” A slight blush creeps across the brunette’s face. “It’d be nice to know that we have one… I don’t want to spoil anything or change the future…”

“Oh come on… that’s no fun…” Is the protest back.


Sitting back on the couch, the soldier of Thunder tries to relax. She finishes off the last of her food while Minako does the same. Both teens are thinking about the how the situation amongst the Sailor Soldiers has changed ever since that last major battle.


Elaborating on her thought, Venus explains what she thinks is happening. “I think we’ve kinda gone our own ways a little… everyone that has a boyfriend is really involved with them. Ami has been taking train trips up to see Urawa… they’ve been hitting in off pretty good.”

“Yeah… that’s true. There was one day where the train back was canceled… she was so embarrassed the next day…”

“She had to stay over at his place…” Minako chuckles. “I don’t her mother was very pleased with that, either. As busy as she is at the hospital, that woman can notice if something is out of place very quickly… or if a certain someone isn’t at home…”

“Naru and Umino are still going strong…” Makoto remembers another couple that she hasn’t spoken to in a while. “After we beat the Heartsnatchers, they really got some time alone… they deserved a break…”

“Look at us…” Minako suddenly gets serious. “Talking about all these other couples… we need to work on getting some men ourselves…”
“True…”

Eager to begin, Minako asks simply. “Soo… where do we start?”

“How about the mall?

Makoto agrees with the idea. “It’s almost Christmas time… I’m sure there’d be a lot of guys walking around that we could talk to…”

“And when we get tired, we can get some dinner and check out guys while we’re eating… and then… why don’t we have a sleepover here? Single girls only…”


Wanting to spend more time talking about this problem, Makoto agrees. ‘Even if the day is a bust, we can still talk… it’s good to have close friends… people you’ve fought besides to the death… several times.’

Getting on her feet, Venus looks down at her friend, who appears ready to fall asleep. “Well, come on… stop moping around and let’s go!”

Jupiter slowly gets on her feet and heads into her bedroom to get her coat and gloves. She pauses to take a quick look in the mirror… and then on the way out to the entrance of the apartment, she takes a glance at the picture of her parents. ‘I’ll always be thinking about you- always…’



The pair head over to the mall… and start walking around, scouting for guys as well as shopping bargains. In another part of the mall, another familiar couple is doing Christmas shopping…


“But Mamo-chan!”

“We’ve spent enough already… there has to be money leftover so we can eat dinner…” Mamoru says with a sigh. “You can’t eat the clothes you just bought, can you?”

“But it’s a special deal…” Usagi says while pointing at the glass display case. “Fifty percent off!”

“It’s Christmas… everyone’s going to be offering discounts… it’ll be there if we come back in a day or two…” Is the simple logic that Mamoru brings out… but it doesn’t quite hit home with Usagi.

“But…”

The best way out is the direct way, sometimes. After a few moments of thinking, a solution presents itself. “Either we eat dinner out or get more clothes- I’ll leave it up to you…”

That stops Usagi dead in her tracks. ‘Well, I do want to eat a nice dinner… ooh… maybe he’s right…’

“Fine, dinner it is…”

“Good…” Relieved, Mamoru motions his girlfriend to sit down on a nearby bench, which she does. “I’m just trying to get you ready for the future… a queen has to know how to rule and also how to keep a budget…”

“I guess…”

“Let’s find somewhere to eat…”


That comment spurs Usagi to action and she happily follows her boyfriend. The pair pass through the mall and slowly make progress towards the food court.

Scanning ahead, Mamoru ‘I guess everyone’s out shopping today… it’s so crowded in here, we’ll be lucky if we get a seat at any restaurant.’

Usagi has a similar thought. ‘Wow… look at these crowds… and those lines. I’ll be starving by the time we get to place an order…’


While the two look for the shortest line, Minako and Makoto walk into the food court and spot the familiar couple. Minako has an idea and immediately puts it into action…


“How about Chinese?” The now hungry Usagi says while looking at the shortest lines. Before she can get a reply back, a pair of hands grab her and pull her back…

Mamoru suffers the same fate and before he can protest, he finds himself standing next to an empty chair… and Sailor Jupiter.

“Sorry about the surprise… but seats are hard to come by…”

“Oh, it’s no problem…” He says in return, breathing a sigh of relief.

Minako turns and looks at Sailor Moon. “Go ahead, sit down.”

“But our food…” Is the protest back from a very hungry Usagi.

“I’ll get it…” Makoto says, volunteering to take care of the food situation.


Taking out his wallet, Mamoru looks inside and takes out a 1000 yen bill. “Get us two large chicken ramen soups…”

“I’ll take one of those, too…”

“I’ll be right back…” Makoto heads over to the line and patiently waits for her turn to order. ‘I owe Minako for lunch… she doesn’t have to pay me back. Besides, we can talk with those two about our problems… maybe they know something that we don’t…’


Trying to pass time, Sailor Moon starts a conversation with Minako. “I’m surprised you two are here… I thought both of you already did your Christmas shopping…”

“Oh, we did… but we’re here for something else…” Is the reply back from a distracted Venus, who’s head suddenly turns to scope out a passing guy…

After seeing that, both Usagi and Mamoru know why the other two were in the mall. “Looking for boyfriends?”

“Yep… you two can’t be the only lucky ones…”

A modest reply from Mamoru keeps the conversation going. “Well I guess I see now that you put it that way…”


Tapping the table, an impatient Sailor Moon replies, making her response go along the same lines as her boyfriends’ response. “You two will find someone, just keep on the lookout. Rei and Ami knew their boyfriends as just friends for a while before they went further…”

“I guess… but it feels like no one’s noticing us… we’re in the middle of high school… I thought that the uniforms we have to wear would get us some attention…” Minako admits, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“Those are nice uniforms…” Tuxedo Kamen looks at Usagi. “She looks nice in hers…”

A red blush covers the face of the now embarrassed Sailor Moon. “Oh, stop that…”

Ignoring the banter between the couple, Sailor Venus continues. “Makoto and I are talented, attractive women… what’s the problem with guys these days?”


Taking a moment to think, Usagi remembers something from the not too distant past that may be helpful to mention.

“Cheer up… I know you can get a boyfriend. A few years ago, you managed to keep two at the same time… until we found out they were working for the Dead Moon Circus… you can get one…”

Her boyfriend also adds a few words about Makoto. “I know Makoto thinks that a lot of boys look like her ex… but I think she’s starting to grow out of that now… I haven’t seen her do that in a long time…”

“Same here…” Usagi says with a nod.


After thinking about that last comment, and what was mentioned earlier involved the Dead Moon Circus, Minako feels the sudden urge to run away and cry…

“I’m sorry… I have to go and… take care of something at home…”

“Minako…” Is about all Usagi can say before the blonde rushes away from the table, tears now forming in her eyes. ‘They just don’t get it…’


About a minute later, Makoto returns to the table with a tray filled with bowls of steaming hot ramen. She notices that there’s two empty chairs, not one…

“Where’s Minako?”

“She suddenly left… and said something about going home…” Usagi says sadly, knowing that her comments may have lead her friend to do that.

“Oh…” Makoto says solemnly.

“Why don’t you sit down and tell us about what’s going on… from your point of view…” Mamoru says while motioning at the empty seat.

“Sure…” Jupiter sits down and passes out the food, deciding to keep the bowl she bought for her friend, so it doesn’t go to waste. “Minako and I have been… a little depressed about the situation we’re in… today only made things worse for me…”

Usagi, for a change, eats slowly and doesn’t scarf down her food. She thinks about her two friends and is listening attentively to every word that Makoto says… the same goes for Mamoru. He has a suggestion for the young woman sitting across the table from him…

“Makoto, why don’t you two spend some time with Usagi and the other girls? I’m sorry if I’ve taken Usagi from you two…”

Sailor Moon looks at her boyfriend and wonders what he means by that… but figures it out after Jupiter’s next comment.

“Well, okay… but it’s not just you two… the others have been really busy lately. It’s been ages since we all got together… that was one of the concerns that Minako and I had…”

“Not having to fight evil constantly has its disadvantages… I guess we’re seeing that right now… right Usagi?” Mamoru turns and look at Usagi, who finishes off her soup and places the empty bowl back on the tray.

“I think you’re right… I mean I’m glad that things are normal right now… but how much normal can we handle?” Saying that last part with a giggle, Usagi tries to get her friend to smile… which she does.

“Normal… is that really us? We’ve all got past connections… and I guess we’ve got future connections… but what about the present?”

“That’s a good question.” Pausing for a moment, Tuxedo Kamen tries to present some valid arguments. “That future… it’s not set in stone. Who knows what other challenges we’ll be going against… I think we should all try and make the best out of the present. Usagi and I are here for you and Minako if you want to talk about it…”

Makoto nods her head and then speaks softly to her friends. “Then I take it you think we’re all different… which I agree with. Since the day I found out I was Sailor Jupiter, I’ve had something new to fight for… but when there’s nothing going on, I feel like my past self, before I was a Sailor Soldier. Do you two ever feel the same way?”

Moon answers first. “Hmm… life before Luna in my case… hmm… it was… ordinary. If I didn’t have Mamoru here then I’d say… yes… it would feel like that. We still have each other, though… us five… friends forever.”

Kamen continues that thought and tries to bring up a common point with Jupiter. “My past isn’t the happiest… you know that I lost my parents in a tragic accident as well…”

Makoto lowers her head and nods silently. ‘He’s right… we both have the same pain, the same loss… but Usagi’s right, we still have each other, no matter what’s going on…’


Silence is all that is present at the table for several long moments after Mamoru’s comment… and then Makoto raises her head up again and speaks.

“You’re right… both of you. We should get together and talk… and keep our friendships strong. How about Saturday? Are you two doing anything?”

The couple exchange glances and then shake their heads, indicating a “no” answer.

Feeling a new burst of energy, the Soldier of Thunder stands up. “Great! I’ll tell Minako. Why don’t you guys come over by my place then?”

“We’ll be there… do you want us to call the others?” Usagi asks, wondering if the other Soldiers would be available.

“I’ll take care of it tonight… and I’ll see you two later!”


While a newly enthusiastic Makoto runs towards Minako’s house, her stomach full and body also full of a new happiness, the Soldier of Love enters her house and heads right to her room. The tears have stopped… but there’s still something to else to do…


Slowly opening her door, Minako finds her guardian cat, Artemis, sleeping on her bed.

‘Good, he’s here… I may need his opinion about something in a minute…’


Totally oblivious to his charge’s arrival, Artemis snoozes away… but soon feels something soft hit his body…

‘Huh? What’s that?’

Before he can actually say something or meow, another item hits him and soon he’s buried in a pile of clothes. He hears a familiar voice a moment later…

“I found it! Let’s see how this looks…”

‘That’s Minako all right…’ Slowly, Artemis opens his eyes… and then quickly closes them. ‘Wait a second… I’m in a pile of…’

Reaching a paw forward in the dark, the white cat feels denim in front of him. Slowly he realizes what’s in the pile.

‘Did she just take off her clothes? That’s her pants in front of me… and…’ Turning his head up, he can see a shirt and a sweater in the dim light.

“Hey Minako! What’s with this clothes pile?”

“One second…” Minako says back sweetly.

“Geez… you could’ve thrown them somewhere else on the bed…”

“I was in a hurry… I’m… not feeling too good about myself right now… but I do want to talk to you about it…” Is the reply back from a troubled Minako.

“Oh… well, I’m here to help…”

“Great!”

Wriggling his way out of the clothes pile, Artemis starts looking around for his charge… and soon finds her in front of the mirror…

“Minako! What are you doing? Put on some clothes if we’re going to talk…” He says while placing his paws over his nose. ‘She’s in her underwear… and only that…’

Saying nothing, Venus turns around and looks at her guardian. She cannot help but chuckle at his situation…

“Well, your reaction kinda answers my question…” She says before giggling.

“I don’t need to see this…” Artemis says before closing his eyes, to avoid looking like a pervert. ‘Something’s wrong here… she’s never done this on purpose before…’

Moving closer, Minako bends over and looks down at the now nervous cat. ‘I better be quick, maybe a question or two…’

“Artemis… am I pretty?”

The white cat cannot help but say- “What?” back in return to that.

“Seriously… am I attractive? Makoto and I were talking earlier today… and I just don’t feel good about certain things… and about me.”

“You’re… woah…” After opening his eyes, Artemis backs away a little from Minako, who’s bending over and looking down at him. ‘She’s wearing white lingerie and bending over in front of me… is she trying to kill me? It’s a good thing Luna isn’t here…’

“You umm… look…” Trying not to stare but still keep his eyes open, Artemis looks at other things in the room and tries to focus on them.

“Go on…”

“Ummm… very nice…yeah, very nice…” The now blushing cat says back, hoping and praying that this conversation will end soon.

Tugging absently at her bra strap, Minako asks another question, unaware of what she’s doing to her cat. “And I look good in this?”

Yelling his response back, Artemis has had enough of this. “Yes! Put some clothes on, please!”

To see an illustration of the scene that just happened, please go to the following links:

Part 1: http://shinjiasuka4ever.deviantart.com/art/Artemis-Minak o-Scene-1-75338889
Part 2: http://shinjiasuka4ever.deviantart.com/art/Artemis-Minak o-Scene-2-75339815
Part 3: (Funny but not actually used here) http://shinjiasuka4ever.deviantart.com/art/Artemis-Minak o-Scene-3-75340391
Colored Version: http://shinjiasuka4ever.deviantart.com/art/Artemis-Minak o-Scene-Colored-75350330

Feeling slightly offended, Venus pulls away from Artemis and back steps a few paces. “Geez… I was only asking because you’re a male… and I trust you. I wasn’t doing this to torture you or anything…”

“Oh…”

“Yea h…” Turning around, Minako looks in the mirror and reaches for a nearby drawer. ‘I guess I better put something on before he dies of embarrassment…’

“Give me a second here…”

Artemis breathes a sigh of relief after hearing that. He closes his eyes and tries to calm down as Minako grabs a shirt to wear and some sweatpants. She waits until she’s dressed again before saying anything to her guardian.

“Okay… I’m dressed…”

Relieved, Artemis opens his eyes. “Whew! You scared me there, Minako…”

“I’m sorry…”

“What’s wrong? Tell me… I want to help out…”

“It’s just… I feel like there’s something wrong with me lately…”

Wanting more clarification, Artemis poses another question. “Like what?”

“Ever since that last big battle… things have changed and that’s good. It’s a lot quieter around here…”

“That’s true… there hasn’t been any invaders or evil forces for a year now…”

“Yeah… and Rei and Ami got boyfriends…”

After hearing that, Artemis knows what the problem is. “That’s true… but you’ll get one. After all, you are pretty… you didn’t have to umm…”

“I know…” Minako says with a soft sigh. “I just needed a male to tell me that… I’m sorry to bother you like that… this is really bugging me…”

“You don’t need me to say anything… you’re wonderful and any guy that doesn’t realize that is an idiot…”

Resisting the urge to cry, Minako walks over and gently pats Artemis on the head. “Thanks, Artemis… I needed that…”

“You and Makoto will be fine… don’t fret, okay? Be confident in you… Sailor V.”

A smile forms on Minako’s face. “Sailor V doesn’t give up…”

“No, she doesn’t…”


A loud “Bing” is heard in the distance and interrupts the conversation. Minako starts heading towards the front door. She yells out “One second…” as soon as she clears her room entrance. ‘I wonder who it could be?’

“It’s Makoto… with some good news…” A voice says from behind the door.

Opening the door, Venus invites her friend inside. “Come in!”

“Thanks…”

“Sooo… what’s the good news?” Minako says, wanting to hear the answer right away.

Happily, Jupiter relates the information. “I talked to Usagi and Mamoru… and we’re going to have a get together on Saturday… all of us, together…”

“Okay… that sounds like a good idea… but where’s this gonna be at?”

“My place of course… and I was thinking, later on, we could make it girls only. I don’t want to kick Mamoru out, but he is the only guy…”

Minako grins. “Hmm… girl talk… it’s been a while. There’s been a few incidents since the last sleepover… I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“As long as we have time together as a group first, it’ll work. What are you doing tomorrow?”

The blonde stops and thinks about that for a moment. ‘This gathering isn’t till the day after tomorrow… maybe I should hang out with Makoto again…’

“Nothing really… what did you want to do?”

Makoto presents her idea. “We could give the mall a try again, maybe do a little shopping… and try forget about this, at least for a little while…”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Minako says excitedly.

“I’ll come by tomorrow after nine A.M.- will you be awake?” The brunette says before gently nudging her friend with her elbow.

Wryly, Minako responds back to her friend. “Ha-ha… very funny.”

“I’ll call Artemis later and tell him to wake you up…”
”Get out of here!” Venus says while gently pushing her friend back towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow…”

“All right, see you later…”


The two teens part ways, both eager for the next day’s activities and to talk at Saturday’s get together. In another part of Tokyo, Setsuna Meioh is enjoying a hot cup of tea and some quiet time with a book… when she notices something odd…

‘My garnet rod… I could’ve sworn it just flashed a moment ago…’

After rubbing her eyes, she notices something else is going on.

“That’s weird… there’s dark clouds… and Crystal Tokyo… something’s not right here…” Pluto says to herself as she moves closer to the rod. Before she can get a clearer picture of the situation, however, the image suddenly disappears and everything goes back to normal.

Ominously, Setsuna makes an observation to herself about the image she just witnessed. “Something must be wrong with time… I just know it…”


To be continued in Chapter 2: The Sleepover


I hope you liked this story so far, I’m trying to go out on an original idea here… though I have to admit that I haven’t read that much Sailor Moon fanfiction. In case you missed it, I made a reference to Ranma ½ near the beginning in regards to where the Okonomiyaki came from. I may have referenced Ukyo there but this not a crossover… at least at the moment. I look forward to hearing from you, the reader…