Vol. 12 - The Pet Stories
Number 2: Wan-Wan's Plot

"The idol of the cat world! The princess of the cat world! My comrade, my cute little sister! Defeating Nyan-Nyan..."

The man with pointed ears, and a crescent moon on his forehead, stands up.

"Damn you, Sailor V! I won't allow it!!"

I'm Aino Minako. I'm 13, and in 7th grade. I love to read. I'm a girl of letters, rich in culture.

Minako laughs as she walks reading a manga book.

I'm the one rich in culture. I have no choice but to be stuck to this hero. I'm a cat of letters, Artemis.

"Mina," says Artemis. "It's not proper to read manga while you walk."

"Shut up, Artemis! Marie-sensei's super-popular series, Aurora Wedding, is right at its climax!"

"Aurora Wedding?"

"Don't you know?" says Minako. "It's a hit manga! There's even a TV series! It's an action love comedy starring the supermodel Linda Evangeligeli! When she's in trouble, she's saved by Swallowtail Kamen. He's so cool! He looks just like Ace!"

She comes to the end of the chapter.

"What, again!? Whenever it gets to the good part, it's always 'to be continued'!"

They hear a scream.

"Huh? A scream!? An incident!? Let's go! Transform!"

She holds up her magic pen.

"Moon Power Transform!"

She appears in her sailor suit.

"Oh, is this a characteristic of a soldier of justice?" she says. "You should be happy, Artemis! You have a hero with quick reaction! Now, relax! Since Sailor V is here..."

"Look out!" Artemis calls.

"Huh!?"

Artemis runs into the street and grabs a small black feline animal out of the path of a speeding car.

"Good! You weren't run over!" says Artemis.

"Artemis!" says Minako. "That was my job!"

He looks at the cat with a crescent moon shape on its forehead.

"She's, she's so cute!"

"Luna-chan!" calls a woman.

"Yes, cute, cute Luna-chan..." thinks Artemis. "What!? Lu- Luna!?"

"Thank you, white kitty," says the woman, as she looks down at him through her big, round glasses. "You saved my Luna-chan."

Minako grabs Artemis.

"Yes!" she says. "My pet Artemis did it!"

She looks at him.

"Hey, what's wrong, Artemis? Your face is kind of red."

"Luna! Luna!" he thinks. "It can't be... It can't be..."

"Woof!"

"Oh, it's a doggie!" says Minako. "How cute!"

"What?" thinks Artemis. "A dog?"

"Cute, no?" says the woman. "I bought it at that pet shop over there. Luna means moon in Latin. These black dogs are popular around the city now."

"Wow! A new pet shop?" says Minako.

"Sensei!!" a man calls. He grabs the woman. "I finally found you! You're not getting away from me!"

"Sensei?" says Minako.

"Oh, are you a friend of hers?" says the man.

"Unbelievable!" Minako thinks. "He looks just like Ace! He's so, so cool!"

"Yes!" she says. "I'm a close friend of hers!"

He bows.

"I'm her boss, Baishaku Shinrou."

He clasps his hands together.

"I beg you! Please become her copy assistant!"

"Boss?" says Minako. "Copy? Assistant??"

Minako enters a huge house.

"Wow! It's so big! You've got a pool! This is your house!? A sensei who lives in such an amazing house... I wonder what kind of sensei she is. A teacher? A doctor?"

"Now, Marie-sensei!" says Shinrou. "The deadline is tomorrow morning! I need you to fill fifty pages tonight!"

They walk into a cluttered room.

"Wow, amazing!" says Artemis. "This is ten times as dirty as your room, Mina!"

Minako picks up a piece of paper.

"Huh!? Th- This picture! Marie-sensei, could it be... Creator of the hit manga Aurora Wedding, Marie-sensei!?"

"Yes, you!" says Shinrou. "Do the frame lines! And the tone too!"

Minako hurriedly sketches on a sheet of paper.

Artemis picks up a book from a stack of manga.

"Hmm... So this is the hit manga, Aurora Wedding?"

He starts to read.

"Aurora Wedding. The romantic comedy saga of ten unlucky sisters working arctic nights at a bridal shop. By day, they're models at the bridal shop. By night, they're revolutionary soldiers. The nine heroines defeat enemies one after another, to marry, retire, and live in happiness. The remaining one is the star, Linda. Will Linda become Swallowtail Kamen's bride!? Linda's pet black cat works in the role of Cupid. Oh, I know, sensei! The role of cats is important!"

Artemis looks at the tall stack of manga.

"Wow, the comics go up to volume 108!?"

"It's been running without a break since I was in 8th grade," says the woman. "I'm twenty now."

"Sensei!" says Shinrou. "Good work! Get some rest for now! I'll be back tomorrow as scheduled!"

He leaves with the finished artwork.

"A manga artist's assistant..." says Minako. "Such a hard job..."

"Thank you so much, Minako-chan!" says Marie. "I got the copy done thanks to you! Here's your assistant pay. Come visit again sometime!"

"Wow, assistant pay!" says Minako. "I get something like this!"

She opens the envelope and takes out a stack of money.

"What!? A- A roll of bills!"

"Give it back," says Artemis.

"What!?" says Minako. "But Marie-sensei gave it to me..."

"You're a soldier of justice to help others," says Artemis. "Taking money for it is not all right!"

"So that's why," says Minako. "My brother-in-law Artemis told me to return it, so I came visiting to return it!"

"You two are interesting," says Marie.

Her dog barks.

"Oh, Luna-chan!" says Minako.

Artemis's face turns red.

"Luna-chan," says Marie. "Looks like you've taken a liking to Artemis-chan. I wonder if you two would model for me next time. Minako-chan, Artemis-chan. Think of this house as your own. Come visit anytime!"

"What!? No way, no way!" says Minako. She runs through the huge house. "This house fit for a princess, I can think of as my own? Since you're so happy, you can write manga full of happiness!"

"That's not true," says Marie. "Manga artists are usually the exact opposite of the stories they write."

"Is that so, sensei..."

Minako looks at the many posters of Ace hanging on the walls.

"You're a big fan of Ace like I thought, aren't you!"

"Oh no..." says Marie. "How did you know!?"

"Come on! Linda's sweetheart, Swallowtail Kamen! He looks just like Ace!"

"That's right!" says Marie. "I've got a mountain of fan letters pointing that out. I have lots of readers who are Ace fans!"

The doorbell rings.

"Oh, Minako-chan, hey!" says Shinrou.

"Oh no!" says Minako. "Her boss, Baishaku-san! Oh, that's right! I thought I'd seen him somewhere before. He looks like Linda's sweetheart, Swallowtail Kamen, too! Huh, Marie-sensei??"

"She must be keeping to her room to do the plot," says Shinrou.

"Plot?" says Minako.

"She may have finished the copy, but there's another deadline coming up in a week! To do a manga, first is the plot: the draft of the draft of the draft. Next is the names: the draft of the draft. Then the draft. Then the inking. Then the tone and the finishing touches."

"Wow, all those drafts," says Minako. "Manga is a real pain in the butt to do. And you read it in just one night..."

"Minako-chan!" says Shinrou. "When you're here, she seems to really get in the spirit. Please come and visit anytime!"

"Oh, come on..." says Minako, blushing. "If you say so, Baishaku-san..."

"Baishaku-san..." says Minako. "He's so cool..."

"Luna-chan..." says Artemis. "She's a dog, but... She's so cute..."

"For once, we have the same opinions, Artemis! To get to know Baishaku-san!"

"To get to know Luna-chan!"

"With high spirits, we'll go to Marie-sensei's place again tomorrow!"

The next day.

Minako walks past a bridal shop.

Two girls stare in the store window.

"Ooh, they're beautiful!" says the one with two long, blond ponytails. "Look, look, Naru-chan!"

"Wow!" thinks Minako. "That looks just like the wedding dress in Marie-sensei's manga! Getting married and retiring... That's my dream!"

She sees the pet store she passed the day before. A crowd is gathered inside.

"It's the pet shop where Marie-sensei bought Luna-chan," she says. "It's really popular."

"Speaking of which," thinks Artemis. "All the people in the shopping district are carrying black dogs like Luna-chan."

"Artemis, hurry, hurry!" says Minako. "Let's go to Marie-sensei's!"

"Oh jeez," says Artemis. "Thinking all black dogs look like Luna-chan..."

"Welcome," says Marie. "I've been waiting."

She buries her face in her hands.

"I can't come up with any material! I'm in a slump!"

"S- Sensei!" says Minako. "Get a hold of yourself! What do you think about sketching Luna-chan and Artemis?"

"I'll do that!" says Marie.

"Wow..." says Minako. "Even big artists get slumps. Isn't Baishaku-san here yet? Well, I guess I'll read some manga while I wait."

She laughs as she reads a manga book.

"This is great! Being able to read manga every day, and live in this huge house, and having a cute boss come to your house every day... Being a manga artist sure is a dream job!"

-

Marie draws as Artemis and Luna sit quietly.

"Cute Luna-chan," thinks Artemis. "I don't care if you're a dog! Today I'm going to get close to you, and make an offer of friendship! And then, marriage...!"

Artemis blushes.

Luna's eyes flash.

A beam of light shoots at Marie.

"L- Luna-chan!?" says Artemis.

Marie collapses on the ground.

"Oh no! Marie-sensei!?"

Luna glares at Artemis, and a blast knocks him to the ground.

"Luna-chan... Luna-chan... Attacked me!? Damn... What's going on!?"

He runs out of the room.

He finds Minako asleep, holding a manga book.

"Mina! Wake up!" he says. "Luna-chan, Luna-chan! She suddenly attacked me!"

"What!?" says Minako. "Luna-chan and Artemis got married before we did!?"

She jumps up.

"Why did Luna-chan attack you and Marie-sensei!?"

She runs back, and sees a crowd of black dogs gathered around a man with pointed ears and a crescent moon on his forehead.

"Wan-Wan-sama!" say the dogs. "The pet shop strategy is a great success! Our servants have scattered and are soaking the energy from the people of this city, woof!"

"Yes, you've done well," says the man.

"What!?" thinks Minako.

"But I can't stand the form of a dog," he says, "being called by a girlish name like Luna, woof!"

"What!?" thinks Minako. "Oh no, is that Luna-chan!?"

"Mina! Look!" says Artemis.

She looks outside and sees people lying unconscious on the ground, next to black dogs.

"What!? Oh no! Baishaku-san?"

She grabs her compact.

"I won't allow this! Crescent Moon Power Transform!"

"Now, you all!" says Wan-Wan. "Sailor V should be losing her energy and dying by road somewhere! Find her! Rip her corpse to pieces!"

Minako appears in a black wig and kimono.

"Rude one, doing inexcusable things! Attacking beautiful young men, and working dogs as henchmen! Such decayed structure of the shogunate! The shogun will punish you with beheading!"

"Wh- Who are you!?"

"Moon Power Transform!!"

She appears in a sailor suit.

"Confucianism and the law of pity toward life may permit this, but I will not!"

"Hmm," says Wan-Wan. "You have the scent of Nyan-Nyan on you! Then you must be..."

"Code name: Sailor V! I am the ally of tender little doggies, and the heroine of manga! The messenger of justice! The sailor-suited, beautiful soldier! The Sailor Venus of romantic, moving, heartwarming comics is I!"

"Your speech is so long!" says Wan-Wan. "Sailor V! This is revenge for my cute little sister Nyan-Nyan! I'll choke you to death, woof!"

"Whether it's Wan-Wan or Nyan-Nyan," says Minako, "I am the pioneer of sailor-suited pretty girl action, Sailor V! As revenge for getting in the way of my plans for second house marriage and retirement, with my V-chan Striking Katana, I sentence you to seppuku!"

She slices him through the stomach with a sword.

"Mina..." says Artemis. "Seppuku is cutting your own stomach..."

The crowd of dogs vanish, and the pet shop disappears.

Shinrou wakes up on the street.

"Uhh... Oh no! I overslept! Sensei, the copy!?"

He sees Marie lying on the ground, covered by papers.

"Oh no! Sensei! The copy!"

He grabs her.

"Wake up, copy! I mean, sensei!"

"Uhh..." she mumbles.

Her glasses drop to the floor, revealing her beautiful face.

"Baishaku-san?" she says.

"M- Marie-sensei!"

They stare into each others eyes.

"Baishaku-san... I- I..."

"M- M- Marie-sensei... I- I..."

"What!?" says Minako, back in her normal clothes. "That's Marie-sensei!? That liar! She looks just like the Linda in her manga! She's so pretty!"

"Ohh..." says Artemis. "Luna-chan wasn't just a dog, she was a man!"

The bell of the church rings as Marie and Shinrou walk down the aisle.

"I get it," says Minako. "So Marie-sensei loved Baishaku-san. And she was a fan of Ace because he looks like Baishaku-san. And Swallowtail Kamen in the manga looked like Baishaku-san too!"

"In Aurora Wedding, Linda got married too," says one of the women at the ceremony. "Now it's finally ended."

"That Marie," says another. "Her work was a big hit!"

"She has her own house, and has made her parents proud."

"And in the end, she made it with a sweet, handsome, elite younger editor!"

"That's the royal road of a shoujo manga artist!"

"Artemis!" says Minako. "I'm going to become a shoujo manga artist, then get married and retire! Oh, my future editor... Where is my destined partner now?"

"You're so girlish," says Artemis.

Artemis stares at the moonlight through the window, as Minako sleeps in bed.

"Luna?" he says. "That's a familiar name. I wonder how she's doing now... Sorry, Mina. Just for one night, can I think of the secret allies I can't tell you about yet? Yes... Telling you that is still a little while off in the future."

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