Rei and Yuuichirou's Romantic Evening
This is the follow-up story to 'Secrets Revealed - Love for Mars', and occurs two weeks later.
. . . . .
At the Hikawa Shrine...
"Now listen carefully, the both of you. I'll be visiting my old friend at the Shitaya shrine for just one day. I should be back sometime tomorrow afternoon. And while I'm gone" the short, bald priest pointed at his student, "I don't want any funny business here. Is that understood?" He glared at Yuuichirou who nodded innocently at the sensei.
"Don't worry, Ojii-chan" Rei assured him. "Everything will be just fine." She smiled sweetly at her grandfather as a taxi pulled up alongside the curb. "I'll make sure all the work gets done."
"It's not you I'm worried about" Hino-sensei grumbled. "It's Yuuichirou." He tossed a small bag onto the rear seat and slid in beside it. "Remember what I said." He closed the door and as the taxi pulled away, Rei and Yuuichirou waved as it merged into traffic.
They stood on the curb until the car had disappeared around a corner, then Yuuichirou turned to the miko with a relieved grin. "I thought he'd never leave, Rei-chan!"
Walking up the Hikawa Shrine steps, Hino Rei gently squeezed her boyfriend's hand. "So, my love" she asked, "are you ready for a nice, romantic evening together?"
"You aren't expecting the other girls over for a study session later?"
"Not tonight, honey. It's just the two of us" she said, smiling coyly at her boyfriend. "So... where do you think we should start?"
"Um, how about with dinner?" the young apprentice offered. "I can make more of those dumplings you like."
"That would be really nice" Rei replied with a sweet smile. "I'll finish tidying up around back and join you inside in fifteen minutes or so." The couple entered the shrine's living quarters and Yuuichirou stayed in the kitchen while Rei continued outside through a rear door.
'I'm going to make my beautiful Rei-chan the best dumplings she's ever had!' Yuuichirou vowed as he began gathering the ingredients. Those last two weeks since the morning he had confessed his love to her at Juuban park were by far the happiest in his life. But now, finding himself all alone with her for the entire evening, the teenage boy felt incredibly nervous. He wanted this time together with her to be absolutely perfect and was determined to make it so.
'Now where did Hino-Sensei hide that new bag of flour?' He searched several cupboards before spotting it on a high shelf, nearly out of reach. Ignoring the step stool that Rei's diminuitive grandfather always used in the kitchen, Yuuichirou stretched his arms upward awkwardly and tried sliding it toward him with his fingertips. The flour bag began to rock back and forth as it slid nearer the edge. 'Almost got it!'
With a dull thump the bag tipped over and abruptly emptied half of its contents over the young man, turning his hair and face white.
"No!" he groaned aloud, immersed in a smog of powder. "Not now!"
Staggering through the white cloud, Yuuichirou's hands groped blindly until he found a dish towel and hurriedly mopped his face clean. Undaunted, the apprentice snatched a nearby broom from its closet, quickly sweeping the spilled flour into a corner of the kitchen. 'I'll take care of that later' the boy reasoned. 'Rei's dinner is more important right now.' He continued preparing their meal, rolling the dough flat and cutting it into small pieces. Knowing Rei would be back soon, he worked diligently, sealing each raw dumpling around its filling. As he dropped the dumplings into a pot of boiling water, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.
"Rei-chan honey, I'm really sorry about the mess but-" he turned, surprised to see Aino Minako in the kitchen and not his beloved Rei.
"Konbanwa, Yuuichirou-chan!" the bubbly blonde greeted him. "Rei told me you're making dinner, and since I was passing by, I thought I'd drop in and help you out a little!" Minako peered inside the boiling pot, frowning. "Not enough water in there, Yuuichirou-chan. Those dumplings are going to stick to the bottom. Let master chef Minako take care of that for you!"
"Arigatou, Minako-chan. But it really isn't necessary to get your hands dirty. I think I can manage ok."
"Nonsense! I'll be happy to take over the cooking. Rei told me her grandfather is away for the night. Sounds like you two have quite the romantic evening planned!" she winked at him. "I'll just help with dinner and be on my way. Don't worry, I won't hang around and interfere with you two lovebirds!"
Grabbing an empty bowl, Minako hastily over-filled it at the sink and hurried back to the stove, sloshing water onto the already flour-stained floor. "See, we add just a little bit more and..." As she tipped the bowl, it slipped from her hand and clattered onto the hot stove, dumping water everywhere.
"Oops!" she giggled sheepishly through a rising cloud of steam. "My fault!"
"That's ok, Minako-chan" Yuuichirou mumbled, well aware of the blonde's well-deserved reputation for disaster in the kitchen. "I'll clean things up." He opened a cabinet under the sink and stooped down to remove a pail. Rummaging through the other items inside, he announced, "Looks like we're out of floor cleaner. No problem, I picked up more this morning in the shrine's utility van. I'll go get it and be right back."
He hurried through a side door and into the shrine's parking area with Minako tagging along behind. "Do you need any help?" she volunteered.
Yuuichirou cringed inwardly, thinking of all the work he already had to do to recover from her previous attempt to help. "There's a big tub of floor cleaner in the back of the van" he said. "I'll get it and we can tidy up the kitchen." He unlocked the vehicle's rear door and tried opening it, but he had parked too near the wall of the shrine earlier and the door refused to swing open far enough to remove the container. "I'll have to move the van forward first." Reaching into his pocket, he produced the ignition key.
Smiling mischievously, Minako snatched the key from his hand. "Allow me, Yuuichirou-chan! I'll move the van for you, and then you can get the cleaner out!" She hopped into the driver's seat and quickly slipped the key into the ignition.
"Minako-chan, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Yuuichirou asked nervously.
"Of course I know how to drive, silly! Haven't you seen me drive at the arcade?"
"Minako-chan, wait!" Yuuichirou blurted a second too late.
Minako had already started the engine and was fumbling with the gear shift. "Got it! Here we go!"
Yuuichirou watched helplessly as the van lurched backward, its bumper striking the wall of the shrine's living quarters with a crunch.
"Oops! Sorry about that, Yuuichirou-chan! Silly me! I must've gotten things backwards!"
"That's... that's ok" Yuuichirou sighed, his heart sinking. His dream of a romantic evening with Rei was quickly turning into a disaster.
Minako found forward on the shift lever and the van lurched again, this time in the correct direction. Minako stopped and called back, "Is that far enough?"
"That's... perfect." Yuuichirou quickly unloaded the heavy container of cleaner. "Please just leave the van there, Minako-chan. I'll park it later."
"Ok!" She slipped out of the driver's seat and handed him the key. "You know, those racing games at the arcade don't have any reverse gears!" she giggled.
Together they reentered the shrine's living area to find Rei standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring in utter shock at the white footprints covering the floor, the spilled pile of flour heaped in the corner, and a cloud of steam still rising from the puddle on top of the stove.
"Yuuichirou-chan! What on earth happened here?"
"Sorry, Rei-chan. We had a slight... accident with the dumplings."
"An accident?" The miko glared at Minako. "Now I understand."
"What's that supposed to mean, Rei-chan?" Minako asked innocently.
. . . . .
Twenty minutes later the kitchen had been cleaned and Minako had left, after a parting wave and a farewell "Have fun, kids!" Rei and Yuuichirou finally settled down to their meal, which despite the earlier problems, had turned out quite well.
Rei took a last bite of dumpling. "These were delicious, honey. Where did you learn to cook like that?"
"To be honest, Rei-chan, it's a recipe Mako-chan gave me" her boyfriend admitted sheepishly.
"Well, now that typhoon Minako has come and gone, maybe we can still have a nice evening together after all." She placed her chopsticks on the table and reached for her boyfriend's hand. "My CD player is waiting for us. Care to dance, my love?"
Yuuichirou smiled at the girl he so cherished. "I'd love to, sweetheart."
Together they walked into the room where the Rei and her friends spent so much of their time studying and discussing Senshi matters. 'But not tonight' Rei thought with a smile. 'Tonight it's just me and my Yuuichirou- and the stupid telephone!' Down the hall, the phone rang again, disrupting the moment and dampening the young miko's amorous mood.
"I'll get it," Rei muttered. She hurried to the phone. "Moshi moshi."
"Konbanwa, Rei-chan!"
Rei sighed. "What is it, Usagi-chan?"
"Did I leave my history book at the shrine yesterday? I can't find it anywhere."
"No. It's not here. You probably forgot it at school again."
Her blonde friend was unconvinced. "Are you sure?"
"Baka! Yes, I'm sure! It's not here!" Rei clenched the phone tightly, her frustration rising.
"Ok! There's no need to get all grumpy about it!" Usagi pouted.
"Good night, Usagi-chan!" Rei hung up the phone and took a deep, calming breath. Returning to her waiting boyfriend, she smiled sweetly, "Now, where were we?"
"I believe a dance was in order, my love" Yuuichirou said, pressing the play button on the CD player. Soft music filled the room and he took Rei into his arms, the couple swaying together to the rhythm of the song. He held her close, sighing happily as she placed her head on his shoulder.
"Yuuichirou-chan?" the puzzled miko asked.
"Yes, honey?"
"Why is there flour in your hair?"
"Sshhh" he hushed her softly, not wanting to break the mood of the moment.
The mood lasted another ten seconds before the CD player suddenly began to skip, jarring the young couple from their romantic embrace.
They both stopped dancing at the same instant and turned to stare at the player.
"Now what?" Yuuichirou groaned.
"It's that stupid disc Minako loaned me" Rei grumbled. "Even when she isn't here, she still manages to cause problems!" She walked over to the player and gave it a sharp whack with her hand. The song continued to skip and repeat, even more annoyingly than before. Frowning, Rei hit it again, harder. The hapless player emitted a loud crackle and went dead.
"Wonderful!" the miko grumbled.
Yuuichirou suddenly began to laugh. He couldn't help himself, as despite his best efforts the evening simply refused to go according to plan.
Rei scowled at him. "Would you mind telling me what's so funny, Yuuichirou-chan?"
"I was just thinking that the only thing missing tonight is another youma attack, or maybe an earthquake!"
His girlfriend was about to reply when the phone rang once more. "I'll bet that's baka Usagi again!" Rei fumed. "She's as determined to ruin our evening as Minako was!" The miko stormed down the hall, viciously yanked the handset from its cradle and yelled into it.
"What?"
"Rei-chan! That's not a very polite way to greet your grandfather!"
"Oh... I'm sorry, Ojii-chan. I thought it was... someone else."
"Is everything well with you and the shrine?"
"Yes, everything's fine here. We cleaned up a bit and just finished dinner."
"Very good. Don't forget to study later, granddaughter. And remember what I told you."
"I will, Ojii-chan."
"Good night, Rei-chan."
The flustered girl said goodbye and hung up the phone, after briefly considering tearing it from the wall and throwing it outside. Returning to Yuuichirou, she found that his music player had replaced hers on the table and a different song was playing. Grasping his hands, she pulled him forcefully into her arms. "We're going to dance tonight, Yuuichirou-chan, even if it kills us!"
As the soft music gradually relaxed her, Rei gently kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "I love you" she whispered.
The teenage boy held the love of his life close, his heart racing with joy, as it did every time he heard her speak those words.
"I love you too, my Rei-chan" Yuuichirou softly replied. He reached up and gently stroked her long, raven-black hair.
A moment later, the music abruptly halted and the shrine and surrounding neighborhood suddenly were plunged into darkness.
"Great. Just great! Now the power is out" Yuuichirou sighed.
"That's not necessarily a bad thing, honey" Rei whispered coyly in the darkness. "Kiss me, my love."
. . . . . . . . . .
Author's note: This was the third in my series on Usagi and her friends. The next story is titled "Drive Me Mercury".