2288/Minako In Charge

Minako In Charge
Date of Scene:	02 February 2025
Location:	Mamoru's Apartment
Synopsis:	Tamaki and Minako babysit Chibiusa! Minako's in charge.
Cast of Characters:	Minako Aino, Jadeite, Chibiusa Tsukino

---

Minako Aino has posed:
With the revelation that Chibiusa was Usagi and Mamoru's future daughter from an alternate timeline, the whole 'what do we do with Chibiusa?' question had shifted quite a bit in meaning. It was no longer 'how do we deal with this potential small threat/help her/figure her out' and now it was 'Who is going to watch her while dates occur?'

After Mamoru's rather visceral response to finding out that some of the senshi had been date-stalking him and Usagi to ensure the date went smoothly, a certain well known senshi had been demoted from 'date watching' to 'daughter watching.'

Minako, burdened with great bags of konbini store snacks, enters the apartment. Artemis walks along beside her in all his white fluffed glory as he casts wary glances around.

"Anko isn't here, is she? She doesn't like me and I do not really want to get into a cat fight," he bemoans.

"Relax, Arty, it's just a simple night in. I brought dinner!" Minako crows proudly as she hefts up a bag filled with far too many bags of instant ramen.

Jadeite has posed:
"All hail Minako, the bringer of dinners!" Tamaki says, waving from the couch. He's been steadily setting up a board game that involves a great deal of interlocking plastic pieces - or at least has been trying. His plans to obtain the title of second best uncle (he can't compete with Kazuo after he was so cool-headed during the arcade incident, he has to be realistic) are well on their way.

"I haven't seen her around. I don't know if Mamoru sent her on a mission onr if she's just sulking, but both of those should work for ARtemis, right?"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    There are really only two places where Chibiusa feels safe without an escort: Radiant Heart, because of the anti-darkness field currently surrounding it, and Mamoru's apartment, due to the kind of traffic it often gets. Right now Chibiusa is in the latter, sitting in the ball pit with the closet door open. When she hears Minako and Artemis's voices in the other room, she hops out of the ball pit and scurries out of the closet.

    A moment later, Luna-P pops out of the ball pond and turns its unchanging gaze around, before floating up and out. It follows Chibiusa.

    Chibiusa peers around a corner at Minako. She's not exactly hiding persay, but she's not really saying anything. Just giving the senshi a silent stare for a moment.

    She also notices Tamaki setting up a board game, and breaks away from her corner to go get a closer look.

    "Anko isn't here," she confirms, which isn't very helpful but it's not like she really tracks the cat at all times. "She usually watches me when I go somewhere, but that's pointless when I'm staying here."

    Then she looks at Minako's konbini bags and asks, "What did you bring?"

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino takes a step to the kitchen where she promptly starts to rummage around looking for what she needs: A pot and a burner. It's plonked on the countertop with a little clank of metal. "Only *the* best dish for staying inside during a cold Winter day," she declares. "Ramen! Quick, easy and filling! The pinacle of our country's culinary processes and the peak of easy meal prep innovations--Have you been to the Cup Noodle museum yet?" Quieter she mumbles, "They won't let me back after I tried to mix the perfect multi-topping ramen cup. So what if it would have cost over $25?"

Artemis hops up onto the counter to take a light paw to the bag causing it to rustle. "There's really better dinners, but Minako isn't the best cook," he advises. "I'd get the fire extinguisher ready."%

Jadeite has posed:
"We're here to hang out if you want! Have you ever played Mousetrap? I don't know if it'd have lasted to the future when it has so much plastic, but all the more reason for us to play it now - when else are we going to get a chance!" He snaps together more stairs on a zig-zagged staircase as he speaks. "It's a game for building a better mouse trap."

"Minako. Thank you for the ramen. And you can add the toppings in now. I can make a fried egg to put on the ramen? I think we've got green onions we can chop up on there?" lovingly. do you need $25 of dried ingredience when you can just buy them fresh,,, "I can cook, ARtemis??"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa considers for a second if teenage Minako is a better cook than alternate-future adult Minako. Artemis's warning seems to indicate not. The smol pink winces and turns to her catball. "Luna-P, you might be on fire suppression duty."

    The catball spins in the air. Stopping fires is the opposite of what it wants to do, but it will obey the will of Chibiusa.

    "I haven't been to the Cup Noodle museum yet. Is it fun?" she asks, but she's already kinda judging them a little bit. That incident could be Minako being a bit extra but it could've also just been the museum being too stuffy.

    Tamaki pulls her attention back to the game and she wanders a bit close to it. "I... think I remember this game? How are you supposed to play it?"

    She notably doesn't say much on the topic of meal prep, though she'd probably help if something were asked of her.

Minako Aino has posed:
"I've never started a fire with ramen," Minako scoffs as she starts to prep everything. Of course she's used to doing things in the 'meal in the room' method so she brings the burner, pot, and bag of ramen over to the table the pair were at. Leaving room at least for the game.

"It's fun enough. It's a good history thing but the best part is that you get to make a cup of your own noodle mix for later. Or you can eat it there, too," she explains. "There's more fun places though."

The game is regarded thoughtfully as she considers a long moment. "I'm not sure *I've* played this game before either," she admits. "Where did you find this?"

Jadeite has posed:
"You go around the board, and you land on different spaces that let you build a mousetrap. We're all playing as mice, right?" Tamaki explains. "Once it's built, we can take turns trying to catch each other with the mousetrap - last one standing is the winner!" He blinks, looking at it. "I don't remember if I ever actually got it to work, honestly. I found it in the stuff I brought from America when I was a kid and never really unpacked, and figured now was the time to try it out. If nothing else, I always had fun trying to build the trap."

And as for the food - "Minako, do you want me to make eggs to go with the ramen? It'd be real easy."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa watches as Minako brings the food and food-related paraphernalia over to the table, and since they're all gathering here she finds a nearby pillow to kneel on and then takes a seat. "Huh, but you could make your own ramen anywhere, couldn't you?" Then she pauses for a moment and adds, "I guess it's different if you're doing it at a museum, though."

    Chibiusa looks at the plastic board game and sees a plastic boot that looks like it's meant to kick over a bucket. She taps the boot a couple times and watches it swing back and forth.

    "Well... we could try it."

    Chibiusa starts looking for the little plastic mice, and picks the red one out to look at it. "So we play as these things?"

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino cranks up the heat on the burner with a twist of the knob waiting for it to boil. While she waits she starts to diligently tear open the bags of ramen to seperate the little packets of soup broth mix, the mixed veggies, the spice packet (wait how spicy was this going to be?) and of course the noodles. A good four are stacked together to deposit in the water once it's heated up.

"Eggs? Oh that would be good too, yeah. I should have grabbed some mini sausages too," she considers only to shrug. "I just thought it would be good to have the basics and work from there. I know Makoto usually has snacks around here." Actual food. Makoto has *actual food* around here but nothing suitable for ramen.

The board is examined watching the little boot swing and kick. "Oh this seems interesting actually. I want the orange mouse!"

Jadeite has posed:
"I think we have sausage? I can chop some up," Tamaki says, going to the fridge to check in on what he can cook. (Oblivious to his oncoming spicy doom.) "We have vegetables too. These are excellent for being on the move and needing quick food, but since we've got the ingredients to get a little fancy, why not get fancy?"

He will attempt to get fancy!

"Yes, we're teh mice. I'll be the blue one," he adds. "Ramen makes a great base to add food to!"

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino starts to carefully mix in the ramen pucks so they can boil. Thankfully it's a very large pot! Her attention shifts over to Tamaki as he starts to root around in the kitchen leaving her alone with Chibiusa for a few moments.

Leaning closer to the pink haire dgirl she asks, voice dropping conspiratorially, "So you're from the future, huh? You know us from the future?" A little hint of glee is in her voice as she asks hopefully, "Am I a super idol? Sailor V? You're heard of me right?"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady looks at the other mice pieces to consider what colors are even here. A lot of board games form America use the same four player colors: red, blue, yellow and green. It's like a law or something. This particular hue of yellow could arguably be called 'orange' though, so the smol pink decides it's close enough. Chibiusa takes the red, blue and orange pieces and places them on the starting space.

    When Minako leans in, Chibiusa looks up at her and says, "Um... well... the end of the world kinda put a damper to a lot of things like that. You spent your 20s and early immortality trying to purify the world."

    She taps her chin and says, "A lot of people still know you, though. As a Sailor Senshi. I guess you could be an idol even then if you wanted."

Jadeite has posed:
"Are there still countries in the future? Or are we all one big super country?" Tamaki asks as he sets up frying three eggs poking his head out of the kitchen. "Do we get to go back into space? OH, do we still eat corn and corn byproducts?"

hashtag normal american questions

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino exhales a sigh, face dropping, at that news. It wasn't as if she didn't expect something similar but there was always that burning hope that she could fulfill her dreams! "Oh, well. I guess saving the world is just as important as becoming a famous idol."

"Mina, the ramen is boiling," Artemis advises. "If you paid half as much attention to what's going on around you as you do to your daydreams of granduer, you'd be a truly fearsome Senshi!"

Minako swats a hand down on Artemis' back giving him a vigorous wrong-way-ruffling of fur which earns a displeased yowl from the advisor. "What do you mean!? I'm plenty fearsome when I want to be!"

Artemis crawls toward Chibiusa teary eyed whispering, "Save meeee~"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    "High fructose corn syrup vanished after Mom purified the world of dark energy," says Chibiusa, in a tone that one might not suspect is entirely serious. "As for countries, well... it's kind of both. Crystal Tokyo is basically the capital of the world, but there are people working under momma who manage different regions. Serenity isn't really that heavy handed, but... no one can really protect their sovereignty without her, and she often has to arbitrate disputes between regions. On the plus side we don't really have war anymore."

    "The space program also looks kinda different when you have magical girls who can just teleport to another planet, but... you'd have to ask future Sailor Mercury about the details on that. A lot of the space science stuff goes over head." Dramatic pause. "No pun intended."

    Artemis is begging for mercy, and Chibiusa winces sympathetically. She starts petting Artemis so that his fur will end up going the right way.

Jadeite has posed:
"Have you considered youtube? Usagi does streams and she's got fans. It's not as widespread as being an idol might be, but it's easier to get into and you could ask Usagi for a promo," Tamaki suggests as he carefully spatulas the three fried egg whties apart.

The ramen will be fine. Its instant ramen. it's going to be soggy anyway.

"...oh, my parents are going to be out of a job. I don't think they'd believe me if I told them they'd have to revamp their corn subsidies," Tamaki complains. "But at least there's space? I always wanted to got o space, even before I remembered everything."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino lets Artemis go to his savior without complaint. At least he's happy that his fur is getting unruffled. He settles into a comfortable loaf beside Chibiusa apparently satisfied in this. "I'd like an egg too please," he calls out to Tamaki just so 'feeding the cat' isn't forgotten.

Minako has turned to regard Tamaki with a blank stare. Chopsticks are held aloft preparing to stir the noodles when he made that remark. A sloooow tilt of her head to the side occurs. "Wait. Usagi-chan is more popular than me? USAGI-CHAN HAS FANS?!"

It's almost as if you can see her brain explode at the thought.

"It's not the same though," she mutters beneath her breath. "I have a video game!" Jab to ramen.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa considers Minako's predicament, and Tamaki's solution to it.

    "You know... that's one of the big changes in this world. The fact that we're all like 30 years off. We didn't really have streaming in the way that you'd think about it, and computers hadn't been around that long. I always think it's a little strange to see Usagi-chan use a computer so easily."

    After a moment, she adds, "I was kidding about the high fructose corn syrup. It's not the healthiest thing but we don't actually have the luxury of being picky about what food we have."

    Chibiusa continues to pet Artiloaf as she watches Minako's brain melt a little bit. "Um... well... I like your video game, Minako-chan!" she says, trying to either cheer her up or distract her. Or both.

Jadeite has posed:
"Sorry, Artemis! I forgot to make one for you - I'll make one next. DO you want it fried sunny side up or scrambled? I can make it two if you want or add cheese or bacon or sausage, you're a cat with a healthy appetite." Someone has to keep this cat man fed. Tamaki is ready.

Tamaki watches Minako react to the reaction to Usagi having fans (of course she does, she's his princess!) and tilts his head, birdlike. "What if you started a Sailor V cosplay channel? You'd probably have to make a copy of the outfit so people would remember it, but you could do a spot on V imitation. And you've got the mask, which will help decrease the chances of someone being a weirdo about it in person."

It. it acn't hurt, right?

Tamaki lets out a sigh of relief. "Good. My parents - they're big on selling corn syrup. If I hadn't become Mamoru's Shitennou, I'd have gotten roped into the corn syrup business. It's still a possibility, honestly, but there's more options now that I'm not in indiana, which is is the armpit of the United States." Not that he's biased.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino tears open packets of broth mix to start stirring in. The powdery concoction doesn't look great but it at least starts to smell like something tasty. She does seem to contemplate the idea a little. Just a little. "Maybe. I could definitely do something like that. I'm so much better on a stage, though! With an audience!" Siiiigh. Dreams dashed.

Artemis considers and requests, "Sunny side up is fine, thank you. I'll have that and a bit of the sausage." Ah, happy little rumbles come as he starts to drool a bit over the scents of impending dinner as well as the pettings he was getting. Not that he would admit to enjoying them. Really. He's just there to keep Chibiusa distracted while the two 'adults' work on dinner and prepare for the board gaming.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady blinks at Tamaki, and considers for a moment. "I actually didn't know that." She pauses, and decides not to go into why she doesn't know Tamaki that well. Not really looking forward to mentioning dad's rock collection again. "Anyways, food is something that doesn't really go obsolete. Even in this era we still eat snacks that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years. I wouldn't worry about that."

    Not much to say about the stage though. Poor Minako. Maybe Chibiusa should've lied? Nah. "Well... I mean it's a different timeline. Fate is what you make of it! I think... Something like that."

    Still petting Artemis. "So what kind of mousetrap would you build, Arty-kun?"