Snow had finally started to fall in Tokyo, soft flakes that melted when they hit Rei's gloves. She looked up at the sky, inhaling the particular scent that was in the air when snow was falling: it was one of her favorite things about winter. Even thought her element was fire, she enjoyed winter and its activities. Skiing, snow boarding, snowball fights—even making snow angels.
Christmas had just ended, and everyone was looking forward to the new year. Not Hino Rei. It would just be another lonely year, highlighted by the fact that her best friend Usagi had just gotten engaged over the holidays. She was always the lucky one.
What could Rei expect for the new year, except more shrine duty, school, and the occasional visit with her friends? Nothing, that was what.
Standing at the top of the steps that led to the Hikawa shrine, Rei looked down at the road. It wasn't so busy; she had only seen three cars in the ten minutes she had been standing there. Wearing a light purple jacket, matching gloves and scarf, with jeans and boots, Rei was restless to go somewhere. But there wasn't anywhere that she wouldn't be interrupting someone's holidays.
Makoto had taken off the day after Christmas for a New Year's baking course in some posh hotel restaurant. Minako was spending the day with her mother; Usagi with Mamoru. Michiru and Haruka were together like always, and Setsuna's whereabouts were unknown.
So. Where to go? Shrugging, the priestess decided to just start walking and see where she ended up.
Finding herself at what appeared to be a long neglected bus stop, Rei finally raised her head to look around. She had just been walking, head down, through the crowds and snow, keeping to herself. She didn't want to engage in any interactions with anyone, just to be in her own bubble. Not like anything would happen to her loneliness if she had exchanged greetings with a passerby.
Kicking at the weeds that grew up near the bus stop, Rei tried to gain her bearings. Where exactly was she? An abandoned corner, it seemed, the lights of a neighborhood not too far off. This bus stop had probably been abandoned in favor of a better spot. She shivered in her jacket, wondering just how long she had been lost in thought. A while, most likely, since she knew pretty much every area near the shrine.
A bus pulled up, and the driver opened the door. She couldn't see his face, shadowed by his cap, but he looked at her as if sizing her up. "Ride?" he asked, his voice as smooth as caramel.
She frowned. It would be nice to get out of the cold… She dug into her pockets for bus fare. "Where are you headed?"
"Roundabout," he said.
Good, that would get her at least close enough to the shrine that she wouldn't freeze walking back. Finally dragging out bus fare, she deposited it as she got on and found a seat near the middle. There were six other people on the bus: an elderly couple, a teenage Lolita girl in dark purple, a middle-aged businessman, a man in his 20's that she couldn't place in a category, and a housewife with bags of shopping at her feet.
They were all unassuming, except maybe for the Lolita girl. Rei had never understood that underground culture. Leaning back against the vinyl seat, she closed her eyes. Maybe a short nap before she got off the bus. Tomorrow, she would go back to shrine duty and help her grandfather. He was probably overwhelmed even today with people looking for charms for the new year, but she had needed a break. She felt a little guilty, but not so much that it had kept her at drudgery for more long hours.
Opening her eyes, Rei instantly noticed that the bus engine was off. Shit! Had she slept through the last stop, and been left on the bus unnoticed? As she surfaced further toward waking, she heard whimpers and furtive whispers. Lifting up, she glanced around.
The elderly couple looked terrified, as did the housewife. The Lolita girl looked bored, or expectant: as if some treat was going to come her way. The businessman looked confused, and the other man defiant.
Rei looked at the front of the bus where everyone else was staring. At first, all she saw was the bus driver, but then she saw that he had taken off his hat. And his face was anything but friendly; the same for the gun held in his hand.
"Did you idiots really think a bus would pick up you sorry lot? Could barely pay the fare! It's people like you that need to be exorcised from this world. Pathetic, useless pawns."
Although she realized the direness of the situation from the firearm, Rei couldn't help but snort at the worse "exorcise". Well, if he wanted an exorcism, he certainly had the right passenger! Judging from the rest of the passengers, she was the best at holding her own in being defiant. And that seemed to be what was needed here.
Getting to her feet, Rei glared at the man. His face was average, closely cropped black hair, flecks of gold in his eyes. His nose was crooked as if it had been broken, and his nails manicured—an odd juxtaposition.
"Where do you get off calling us pathetic?" she questioned. "We've just as much right to a life as you—probably more! At least we're not threatening to kill people."
The man swung the gun to aim at her, now staring her down. "And what do you think gives you the right to live?"
Rei ground her jaw. The best reasons: I'm the protector of the Moon Princess who will one day save this world and stupid jerks like you; I've saved this world countless times with my fellow warriors; I have powers you couldn't imagine. None of those could be said. So, instead.
"I'm a Shinto priestess. What would your parents think if you killed someone like me?" She was betting on his parents being religious.
He snarled his lip, making him look even more forbidding. "Never knew them long enough to know how they'd feel one way or another. Myself, I never cared for religion. Priestess or not, doesn't mean a thing to me."
Rei rolled her shoulders, which suddenly felt tight. "Fine. Then just keep me, let the others go. Abducting a Shinto priestess? That would get you a lot of publicity."
She was trying very hard to be civil, but it was hard with the man's abrasive attitude and grave looks. "I just want you lot dead."
Death seemed to be the only option on the table. She sighed, looking back at the others. "Well, I tried."
Sitting down again, Rei worked at her shoulders. She knew it was a sign of her warrior training, that she should fight. People were in danger, and she could save them. But not as Sailor Mars. And for all her bluster, she wasn't physically intimidating like Makoto.
Closing her eyes, Rei began a chant under her breath that she remembered from her days on Mars. She had learned much about controlling her element of fire back then. Her fingers moved in the ritual as she breathed the words, flame dancing on her tongue. Blocking the cries of mercy from the others, she concentrated on her own plan.
The last word few off her lips like a spark freed from a flame, and she heard the driver start to yell. It wouldn't be obvious to the others, but his skin had just caught fire. Well, to him it felt as if it did, and that was enough. The spell created the illusion, and the subject would think he was being burned alive until she spoke the word that would break the delusion.
For now, while the man was writhing on the floor, she herded the others to the back door exit. The others were still staring at the bus and the screaming man as Rei fished out her cell phone. She had service, good. Putting in a call to the authorities about the abduction and subsequent threats on the lives of upstanding citizens, she waited for the police.
Hearing sirens, Rei strongly said the word that ended the driver's pain. It took a minute or so for him to realize that the burning had stopped. By that time, he had stripped down to his underwear in an effort to relieve the pain.
She smirked and turned to wait to give her statement. Okay, maybe she could do something in the new year: defend innocent people as a priestess, not just as Sailor Mars.