Name of the Storyline:  Love’s Spiral
Name of the Creator(s):  Addelyn & Miss Moon Rose
Forum: Tokyo City
Advanced or Relaxed:Relaxed
Plot Summary:   All busy with high school classes and other various activities, no one seems to notice that Minako has suddenly become withdrawn and sullen, no one it seems but Rei. Attempting to bring it up with the others leaves the miko frustrated and angry when her concerns are dismissed. The best course of action she decides, is to investigate what is going on with her friend.

Knowing she is withdrawing from her friends, Minako can’t seem to find the energy to care. She’s trying so hard to impress her new boyfriend, but nothing she does seems to work. It’s her first big relationship and she’s the Goddess of Love, she can’t let it fail!

Follow Rei and Minako as they grow closer and slowly fall in love. Will they be able to realize that they are right for each other before Minako’s boyfriend shatters her heart and soul for good?

Details on any necessary information:  


Restrictions: Rei will be played by Addelyn and Minako by MMR. Any other characters will be npced for plot purposes.

Source(s): N/A

OOC Thread: N/A

Member to Character List:

Addelyn: Rei Hino
Sailor Pluto: Minako Aino

With a smile on her face and sparkles in her eyes, Minako walked down the sidewalk hand-in-hand with her boyfriend, Uragiri. His hand was warm in hers, making Minako feel safe and comfortable as they headed towards the arcade. She talked a mile a minute about everything the could think of, always doing her best to keep the conversation going and to make Uragiri laugh. But today he seemed a little...unresponsive. Everything she said, he would just mutter, "Uh huh," or, "That's cool." And so Minako just kept talking...and talking...and talking.

Before they could walk into the arcade, Uragiri pulled Minako to a stop, letting go of her hand. "Is something wrong?" she asked, confused. Uragiri wouldn't meet her eyes, and distracted himself with a passing bird. 

"I...think we should break up," he suddenly said.

In that moment, Minako felt like her whole word had come tumbling down. Her heart shattered into a million pieces, her stomach shrank to the size of a pea, and her smile was wiped from the face of the earth. Her lip began to tremble as she struggled to process what her now-ex-boyfriend had said.

"Are...are you being serious?"

Uragiri nodded, running one hand through his hair. "It's nothing against you - well, kinda  - but I'm sorry and all. I just...want to try something new. You understand, right?" 

Before Minako even had the chance to respond, Uragiri patted her on the head and walked away. "See you around, Aino-san!" 

Tears suddenly began to fill Minako's eyes. After all the time they spent together, all the laughs, the movie dates, the fancy dinners, the shopping trips, the football games...he just...ended it? How could he possibly do something like that for no reason? Had she done something wrong? 

As Minako's heart dragged on the floor, she forced herself to trudge into the arcade and sit down at a booth. Sniffling, she placed her head in her hands and began to cry.

It had been a long, long day at school. The Hino Rei fan club had been particularly draining today, having followed her more than usual, cooing over every little move she made. It had made getting any of her work done, so she had more time to spend with Usagi later this week, difficult at best. The attention was normally flattering, she was awesome after all, but sometimes, she wished that they would just back off and give her some privacy.  

I wonder if Usagi is in there, Rei wondered as she neared the arcade. Deciding to see, and berate Usagi for not being at home and doing her homework, she walked in and looked around. Huh, I guess she actually went home for once. Perhaps all of her and Ami's lectures about the important of homework and grades and getting into a good college finally got through to her. Taking another look around, she paused when she spotted a familiar blonde hair with a red bow. What was Minako doing here and was she...crying?

"Mina-chan, are you alright?" Rei asked softly as she came up beside her friend. Her heart clenched at the thought of her being hurt. She needed to find out who did it and teach them never to mess with her friends. Reaching out to put a comforting hand on the blondes back, she hesitated. Would her touch be welcome? Unsure, her hand dropped to her side as she looked away.

Minako jumped at the familiar voice beside her. She quickly swiped the tears from her eyes, silently hoping they weren't red and puffy as she turned her head to see Rei standing beside her table. "Oh, hey Rei-chan. Yeah, I'm fine, thanks."

She knew Rei would be able to see through her lie. But what could she do? Burst into tears and jump into Rei's arms?

The thought didn't sound so bad...but she knew Rei wouldn't welcome that kind of physical contact. It would be weird, especially in such a public place.

"Are you sure you're alright? If someone hurt you tell me! I'll make them regret the thought of being born!" She would never let anyone get away with hurting any of her friends. The thought alone lit a fire deep within her, but revenge could come later, it looked like her friend needed her now. 

As she sat down beside her friend, she spotted Motoki, and a plan formed in her mind. Minako was similar to Usagi in that food could easily cheer her up. Signaling for the blonde man to bring them two milkshakes, and praying he understood her, she refocused on her friend. She wanted to help but beyond making whoever hurt her regret ever being born, she was at a loss.

Minako couldn't help but laugh at Rei's attempt at being supportive. She knew she could always count on Rei to cheer her up. Imagining the fiery priestess burning the pants off of Uragiri as he screamed like a girl made her feel a little better. Rei sat down and Minako sighed, leaning her head back on the seat and watching the ceiling fan spin above them.

"Uragiri dumped me," she said sadly. "He said he...wanted to try something new." A tear fell from Minako's eyes as she thought of her ex-boyfriend messing around with other girls. Why couldn't she be good enough?

"HE DID WHAT!?" she exclaimed standing up, only to blush when she realized that the Crown Parlour had gone completely silent and everyone was staring at her. Sitting down quickly, she muttered a quick sorry, looking down at her lap. Well that had been completely embarrassing. 

"That's crazy though, why would he dump you, you're..you're you! You absolutely amazing and anyone would be lucky to date you. I think there must be something wrong with him," Rei explained. Who wouldn't want to date Minako? She was beautiful, kind, caring, fun. The guy must be nuts. "If he's acting like that then I say you're better off without him!"

Minako nodded solemnly, not even caring how loud Rei's voice got. Her friend's anger was slightly comforting. At least she wasn't the only one angry and confused. She felt even better after Rei practically showered her with compliments. For the first time since being single, Minako smiled. She loved how she could count on Rei to make her feel better. 

"Thanks, Rei-chan. You're right, anyway. I don't need him. I've got you and the girls - that's all I need, after all." Minako's smile only brightened when a milkshake was placed in front of her. She dug in eagerly, all thoughts of Uragiri having left her mind.

A few weeks passed, and it didn't seem like Minako was getting any better. To Rei, she seemed more withdrawn and quiet than she had that day in the arcade. 


Perhaps I'm seeing things that aren't really there, she thought. It would be a good time to ask the others. They were coming over for a study session. Minako would be late, having gotten in trouble at school. It would give the priestess the perfect opportunity to talk to her friends. 

She waited until they were all settled, quietly working on their own assignments. She put down her pencil and regarded them quietly for a moment before she spoke. 

"Guys, have any of you noticed that Minako has been acting...differently for the past little while?"

After an exhausting week of back-and-forth arguing with Uragiri, it was all Minako could do to bring herself to go to Rei's shrine. She was tired from the sleepless nights wondering why she wasn't good enough. A part of her told her that she was fine, that Uragiri was the one at fault, but the other part of her told her that she needed to try harder.

She had caught him texting another girl two days previous, and that was it for her. The content of the message itself was vulgar, and it still burned her brain to even think about it. She felt so lonely, so betrayed, that she hadn't even told Rei about it. She didn't want others to know how she had been abandoned by a man, and how it was tearing her apart. She was Minako freaking Aino - she didn't get rejected by men. 

Except for Uragiri.

With a sigh, Minako was about to enter Rei's room when she heard her name on the other side. Pressing her ear against the door, Minako listened as her friends spoke.

"I haven't seen her much lately, but I would say she was acting pretty normal," Makoto's voice floated through.

"The only thing I would say I have noticed is that she's late today, but that's not too out-of-the-ordinary," Ami added.

"Yeah! And besides, if something was wrong with Minako-chan, she would tell us! Don't worry, Rei-chan, I'm sure you're overthinking it as always. Just because you have a sixth sense doesn't mean you know everything," Usagi quipped.

Minako bit her lip. She suddenly felt guilty for not telling the senshi about what had been going on, but...how could she? She had to be their role model, their leader. She couldn't let something like a silly boy bring her down, but she had. She let him work his way into her heart, then rip it into pieces again and again. Why she cared about Uragiri so much was beyond her, but it still hurt all the same.

Rei found herself frowning as her friends just brushed off her concerns. Something was wrong, she knew it, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it; at least just yet. Consulting the flame may be her next move if Minako proved to be her usual stubborn self. 

"I still think you're wrong. Somethings going on with her and I can't believe you guys can't see it!" Ami and Usagi she could reasonably see not being aware something was wrong. One had their nose stuck in a book and the other was blissfully unaware of most things. Makoto, she honestly expected better of. 

She just couldn't understand how they didn't see something that was so obvious to her.

Feeling guilty for eavesdropping, Minako slid open the door to Rei's room and smiled as she entered. "Sorry I'm late guys, there was this super cute guy at the bus stop and I just had to stop and talk to him," she said, taking her usual seat on Rei's bed. "What are we talking about?"

She glanced over at Rei, afraid of meeting the priestess's eyes. Minako felt the overwhelming need to hug her and thank her for caring so much, but she forced herself to stay put. She couldn't make a big scene in front of her friends. She had to be herself, and forget all about her broken heart.

"Nothing much, just discussing what we should study first," the priestess said calmly, cutting off anyone else from saying anything. 

Rei eyed Minako critically as she entered the room, deciding to drop the topic for now. If  anything was wrong, Minako wouldn't open up about it right now and it would most likely cause her to clam up completely if Rei tried again at another time. Maybe I need to consult the fires, she thought, concentrating on her homework. Would that be a breach of Mnako's privacy though? Rei knew she should wait until her friend either came to her or opened up when she asked about it. That would be the right thing to do. 

She can be so stubborn at times though! Would she really trust us to help her in whatever is bothering her? Not realizing how tightly she was gripping her pencil, Rei jumped slightly when it snapped in her hand.

Minako dragged her homework out of her bag and plopped it onto the floor, taking at least five minutes to get everything out and scattered around her like she preferred. Minako was nothing like Ami, and preferred to work in messy circumstances. She was just about to write her name on her first assignment when a snap! caused her to jump. Looking up, Minako realized that Rei's pencil had snapped in half. The other girls were all staring, and Minako was the first to speak:

"Rei-chan...are you okay?" The concern in Minako's eyes was evident. Had something happened to Rei?

"I'm fine, was just a cheap pencil is all," she muttered, trying to keep her embarrassment from showing. If she was this worked up, she really needed to meditate tonight to get her thoughts and feelings in order. Seeing Usagi opening her mouth to protest, she sent the smaller blonde a look, pleading her just to drop it. To her absolute amazement she did. 

~~

"Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen," she chanted later that night, finally having the time to meditate. It had taken longer than normal to calm herself down enough to be able to attempt to see in the fire. She was at an absolute loss of how to help Minako. 


"Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen." Her hands moved in the corresponding movement for each word, eyes searching the fire for a hint of an image, but there was none to be found. Did this mean that there was nothing she could do to help Minako, or was it that she was already? 


Giving up for the moment, Rei stood up, stretching. She was stiffed from sitting for too long between meditating and doing homework. She couldn't help but feel as if she had gotten no where today though. Maybe a distraction would be good for the two of them. An idea forming, she returned to her room and grabbed her communicator, typing out a quick text message, she hit send. No way Minako would turn this down. 


Shopping tomorrow afternoon when chores are done, you in?

Minako sat on her bed, kicking her feet in the air as she watched her ceiling fan go around and around. Her mind was plagued by Uragiri, wondering if he would text her and beg to get her back. A secret part of Minako wanted it to happen, wanted him to beg for her forgiveness and show up at her doorstep with flowers and chocolates. But another part, the wiser part, told her that she was better off without him and would be happier if she never spoke to him again. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the beeping of her communicator. Worried that something was wrong, Minako leaped out of bed and went to her schoolbag, pulling the small item out of its pocket. She saw she had a message from Rei, asking if she wanted to go to the mall.

Minako stood there for a moment, thinking to herself. She did need some new clothes, and going shopping would definitely take her mind off of things. But the last thing she wanted was to waste Rei's afternoon with her sour attitude.

But Minako just didn't have the heart to say no, and in all honesty, being with Rei made her feel better. She would just have to put on her best smile and hope for the best, Minako decided. With a small smile on her face, Minako typed her confirmation and headed back to her bed, feeling slightly excited for the next day's events.

Why was it on days that you actually wanted time to hurry up, it decided to take its sweet time about it?  She had promised to stay to sell charms in the shrine until the earlier afternoon. Looking at the clock, Rei cheered internally; it was finally past the time she had promised to stay for. Hurrying to her room, she quickly changed into more casual clothing, texting Minako to meet her at their regular spot in an hour. That should give her enough time to get out of bed and get there, Rei thought, laughing to herself.

After about half an hour of Artemis trying to get Minako out of bed, she finally dragged herself across the floor and to the shower to get ready for her day at the mall. She was scheduled to meet Rei in half an hour, according to Rei's message, but what good were you if you weren't fashionably late?

Minako took her time in the shower, making sure her scalp was thoroughly cleaned before getting out and blow-drying her hair.

Another ten minutes was used to pick out an outfit, and Minako was ready to go. She headed towards her and Rei's meeting place, knowing that when she got there, she would probably get a scolding from Rei for being so late.

Rei frowned as they sat in the food court. Minako, like Usagi, was normally a good eater, although not as enthusiastic or messy, was picking at her food. She had been morose all day, following Rei from store to store where she would normally be dragging Rei to see various things. 

She put down her chopsticks and sighed. Perhaps it was time to see if she could get the other senshi to open up. 

"Minako, what's wrong? You're not acting like yourself," Rei said as gently as she could. "And if I"m honest, you haven't been for a while."

Minako paused in her ministrations of her food, her eyes darting up to meet Rei's. Had she really made her feelings that obvious? Of course she had, it was almost impossible for Minako to hide her emotions when it came to her friends. But she really thought she was doing a good job of fooling Rei.

That was her first mistake - trying to fool the psychic.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Minako said quietly. "Just stupid guy stuff. Don't worry, I'll get over it eventually!" She tried to muster the most genuine smile she could, but had a feeling Rei would be able to see right through it.