Disclaimer: Characters owned by Naoko Takeuchi.

Someone wanted a short tale centered around Rei and Koan, so I did something set inbetween her purification and Berthier's purification.

And it uses that dreaded "word which must never be spoken" in the SM fandom: CHOCOLATE PARFAIT.


"Hey, is that-?" Makoto Kino asked as she pointed in the direction of a table in the far end corner of Fruit Crown Parlor. Usagi Tsukino, Minako Aino, and Ami Mizuno turned in the direction to which Makoto pointed over their array of large, colorful drinks.

"Yeah, it's Rei-chan!" Usagi exclaimed. Minako hastily clamped her hand over Usagi's mouth.

"Keep your voice down! She might hear us!" Minako ordered.

"I thought she was busy with shrine stuff right now." Makoto remembered Rei had said she was too busy to hang out with the girls, as she had extra chores at the Hikawa Shrine.

"Maybe she's out on a date right now." Ami made an educated guess.

"Eeee! I wonder who it is?" Minako whispered, being the only one to do so, while she still held a tight hand over a struggling Usagi.

"Knowing Rei he's probably rich and stylish-" Makoto wondered.

"We should keep an eye on them to make sure he doesn't try anything on our Rei-chan!" Minako declared to the entire table. Makoto, on the other hand, felt Minako had other intentions in mind for snooping on Rei's supposed date.

"Is that really the only reason you want to follow Rei, Minako-chan?" Makoto asked, not really being fooled by Minako's bull.

"Of course! We are her dearest comrades! If she's with someone who's a jerk, it's our responsibility to look out for her!" Minako whispered as loud as she could while Usagi wriggled in her grasp.

(And of course figure out how Rei managed to get a boyfriend before me. I'm Minako Aino, the goddess of love, I'm adorable!)

"Come on everybody, we shouldn't be intruding on Rei-chan's private time." Ami sympathetically said.

"Oh? And yet you're the one who's still looking at Rei's table, Ami-chan?" Minako slyly asked.

Ami suddenly realized that her head was sticking out the farthest of the girls, and had not once taken her gaze away from Rei and Rei's obscured companion.

"I-I am? Oh no what am I doing?" Ami quickly reeled herself back in, hands covering her beet-red face in shame. Or rather, the shame of getting caught.

"We should go invest-"

Usagi then bit Minako's hand.

"Aaah!" Minako had to restrain herself from screaming. "What is wrong with you?!"

"I couldn't breathe!" Usagi screamed. "And if you're so concerned about who Rei-chan is with let's just ask!"

"Chocolate parfait?" Koan repeated.

"You've never had one before?" Rei asked.

"Not really. I've heard of something like that, but I've never had the chance to try it." Koan admitted.

Rei Hino sat with Koan, a woman who, until recently, had been a deadly enemy of the Sailor Soldiers with the intent of trying to find and kill Chibi-Usa, the young girl who was currently living with Usagi's family.

That was before Koan had been abandoned by her family, and attempted to kill herself and the Senshi in a blind rage. Before Rei had managed to convince Koan that her life was a precious thing, and that if she wanted, she could start over. Usagi had managed to purify Koan of her family's twisted power, and she was now living as a normal human being. Rei had to decided to treat Koan to a day out on the town, but hadn't told the girls because she wanted things to be… well it's not that she doesn't love the girls dearly, but knowing Usagi and Minako things would most likely turn into a production of havoc, and she wanted to have Koan's day to be perfect. Perfection is one of the most important things to worry about when you're with Rei Hino. They did some clothes shopping, Rei introduced Koan to some manga at the local bookstore, and now they had stopped at the parlor for something to snack on before seeing an afternoon movie.

"Crown Parlor's parfaits are amazing. You haven't tasted anything like them." Rei advertised, being as earnest about the parfaits as she was whenever someone asked her about Here! Products.

"I'll take your word for it, Rei-chan." Koan laughed. "Thank you so much for today. I've been so busy with my work, this is my first chance at relaxing as a normal human."

"I'm glad to help. It's wonderful to see you doing so well after, well, you know."

"Yes. But, I admit, I miss my sisters. I wonder how they're doing." Koan said with a melancholic tone.

"Here's your order, Rei-chan!"

Unazuki Furuhata placed two chocolate parfaits on Rei's table. One in front of Rei and one in front of Koan.

"Ah, thank you, Unazuki-chan!" Rei said.

"Yes, thanks Unazuki-chan!" Three voices said.

Rei's heart sank.

"Hi Rei-chan!" Usagi smiled as big as she could. "Oh, Koan, so you're the one Rei's going out with!"

Rei let out a strangled noise. Koan blinked.

"You got a chocolate parfait? How do you like it?" Makoto asked.

"SHE WAS JUST ABOUT TO TRY IT." Rei gritted.

Koan, a little taken aback by Rei's sudden shift in demeanor, but had just tried a spoonful of her parfait. And… it was good. It was amazing! She had never tried anything like it before!

"So, Rei-chan, I thought you had work at the shrine today." Minako didn't even phrase it as a question.

"I got Yuuichirou to fill in for me." Rei snarled.

"And you didn't mention to your closest friends that you were going out with someone else?" Minako trolled.

"And how come you bought her a chocolate parfait? Rei-chan you never buy me chocolate parfaits when we go out!" Usagi whined.

"Maybe she doesn't want everyone to know she was dating Koan." Ami innocently asked.

"THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS IS!" Rei leapt up and started screaming at everyone.

"Aahh!"

Koan had dropped her spoon. She looked in pain and fell out of her seat.

"Koan!" Rei had suddenly shifted from anger to concern as she leapt at Koan's side. "Are you okay? Is it something in the parfait? Is it us?"

"My, my-"

"What?" Rei desperately asked.

"My head hurts!" Koan cried.

"…oh." The girls deadpanned.

"Koan, you ate it too fast, you have to be careful or you'll get brain freeze." Rei gently said.

"Yeah, I get brain freeze all the time, so I'm used to it by now." Usagi said without a hint of shame.

"Can you stand?" Rei asked.

"Y-yes. Thank you. I feel better now. I'm sorry for scaring you like that."

"It's no problem." Rei smiled.

"So about that chocolate parfait-" Usagi began.

"DO NOT PUSH IT."