Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or the cover image. Sailor Moon rights go to Naoko Takeuchi and the cover image is credited to Sol Levine and sweetodango.
This little story is dedicated to Sol Levine, my biggest supporter and best FF friend. I wanted to write this as a thank you for sticking with me from the very beginning and I highly value every review you have given me. I tried to write this in time for it to be a Christmas present, but for some reason it had a sad ending and I had to yank back the reins and think of something else. Thank you so much for all the support this past years I've been on FF. Hugs! I hope you enjoy!
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"Let's go somewhere."
That's what he said to her that morning.
"Let's just get out of here."
"Why?"
He gave no reply other than a secretive crooked smile, casually walked to the front door to gather his shoes, keys, and a black leather jacket. He left her standing in bewilderment at his spontaneous action. From outside, she could hear a car door open and close and the car engine turning over, struggling to start at first. The choking gave way to a steady hum. On the table, her phone sounded a ba-ding with a message from Yaten: Hurry up. You know I hate waiting.
Realizing he was serious, she quickly searched for her purse. Oh, where was it? She looked in the bedroom, by the front door, the living room. She had to retrace her steps. She came home the previous night to the sound of Yaten playing the piano. She couldn't helping smiling, remembering the first time she heard him play in person. He had been coming to the shrine for help with creating a new song, and one day when her room was finally clean, he sat at the piano firmly standing in her room and played a melody beautiful and unknown. She was surprised to learn that he could create something like that, only feeding to his conceited grin. From that moment, her heart melted to hear him play his melodies that sounded like they were designed by angels.
She wandered into the living room to find him sitting in front of the instrument, playing a string of notes and abruptly stopping with a frustrated sigh. Then trying a new string of notes, and stopping again. She had set her bag by the piano, sitting on the bench next to him, listening to his frustrated play-stops until he gruffly stood away from the piano and went to prepare dinner.
Another ba-ding snapped her out of her reverie. She didn't have to read it to know that it said something like If you're not out in two minutes, I'm leaving. "So impatient," she breathed as she snatched her purse, slid into a pair of brown boots, and swirled out the door to quickly lock it before racing to his car.
"Why do we suddenly need to leave? Are we fugitives now?" She joked, amused to hear him scoff.
"Is it a crime for a guy to want to take a trip with his girlfriend? I think not," he replied, frowning at her joke while he plugged his phone into the stereo to listen to his playlists.
"Kou," she said in a warning tone: Tell me or else.
"Hino," he matched her tone: I'm not telling.
"At least tell me where we are going?" She asked, clicking her seat belt securely. All she got was a shrug as they drove away from their apartment.
That was 8 hours ago.
Looking at the window, Rei had no idea where they were. Yaten claimed he wanted to go somewhere secluded, "off the beaten path". Though the arrogant boy refused that he took a wrong turn, it didn't change the fact that they were aimlessly driving on a dirt road that looked like it had hardly been driven on, surrounded by towering trees spotted with orange and red leaves that seemed to go on forever in front and behind.
They were lost.
"Let me look on Maps," she said, unlocking her iPhone and opening the app. She snorted. According to the app, they were in Syria. "Apparently we're all the way out in Syria. I told you you took a wrong turn," she chided, noticing the way the corners of Yaten's lips turned down in distaste at her comment.
"And I told you I didn't take a wrong turn," he replied.
Rei opened her mouth to tell him again that he did when he said, knowing what she was about to say, "Hino," in a way that told her he wasn't in the mood to argue. Rei pursed her lips with a sigh and turned to the window. The sun was already starting to hide behind the horizon behind the trees, the light accentuating the fall colors, making them shine brighter.
Her stomach growled.
"There is some food in the back seat. You should eat," Yaten passively said.
She reached back, grasping for the picnic basket. Inside were some sandwiches, crackers and dip, rolls, a plastic bowl of fruit, a slice of her favorite cake, and a cellophane bag filled with sweets. She looked at him incredulously, wondering why he packed all this food. "Eat as much as you want," he said, causing a wide grin to spread across Rei's face. She opened the bag and took out some sweets. "Enjoy your cavities," he cynically stated.
Rei gave him a dirty look. "You're the one that packed it."
"You're the one eating it, though. No one makes you. The fate of your dental health is in your hands. Just don't come crying to me like a child when the dentist points out your cavities and foots you with the bill."
Disbelief flooded her face. When had she ever done something like that? The next second, she broke into laughter, free without any barriers. She had one of the laughs where it's hard not to laugh with. It soon spread to Yaten like a virus.
"Change the song," Yaten chuckled after a few moments. His playlists were still playing, and Rei could swear they listened to every song at least 4 times.
She plugged her phone into the Aux cord and hit shuffle, leaning back to stare out at the woods. "Confidently Lost" by Sabrina Claudio started playing, vibrating throughout the car with its smooth tones, the contemporary jazzy beat mixing with smooth, beautiful vocals to create an atmosphere peaceful and mellow. She bit back a laugh of irony at the chance of this song playing in that very moment.
She looked over at Yaten, meeting his look of annoyance at the music choice with a suppressed grin.
"You planned this," he accused with a scowl.
"No! I swear, Yaten. I didn't. It's just a coincidence," she defended, unable to conceal a smile any longer.
Yaten turned back to the road ahead, rolling his eyes. Rei didn't fail to notice a small half-smile on his face as he did so. All the tension in the atmosphere evaporated, leaving an air of comfortable complacency. Without fully realizing, her head and shoulders started dancing to the beat, soon followed by her singing along. Yaten let out a laugh when she did. It was her relationship with music that intrigued him at first, then became curious and sought to learn the mystery of the woman. Without realizing, they're hearts became tied together with the red string of fate.
It wasn't much longer until fatigue set in Rei's body. With the steady movement of the car and the warmth provided by the car's AC. Her mind was lulled into a light sleep, the kind of sleep that feels like only a few minutes, until Yaten's voice alerted her to awake.
"What? Where are we?" she asked, trying to get her bearings. They found civilization again, as a town setting was shown through the window, not the woods.
"The engine failed," Yaten answered, sliding his phone back into his pocket. He closed his eyes in frustration with a sigh, leaning his right temple into his forefinger. "The tow truck will be here in half an hour, but all the nearby rental car places are closed."
Rei sat quietly, absorbing the information. Half an hour wouldn't be too bad, she thought. She glanced at the clock, lurching forward in her seat to make sure she saw the time correctly.
"It's 10:00?! Yaten, I have to go to work early tomorrow," Rei exclaimed. He gave no response. She threw her body back into the seat, crossing her arms and staring crossly out the window.
They stayed like that until the tow truck arrived after 25 minutes. After confirming where the car would be taken, Yaten and Rei headed, in aggravated silence, for the nearest train station to board the next shinkansen heading to Tokyo.
They managed to get there just in time to catch the last shinkansen to their destination. Wearily, they sank into their seats. Yaten leaned his head against the window, absently watching the dark world pass by. Today went entirely the wrong way he planned. They were supposed to arrive at an empty park near a beach, away from prying paparazzi. After eating the meal he packed ahead of time, they would walk along the beach the way they do in those cheesy romance movies that Rei loves. Then, when the moment was right, he would propose. He sighed.
It was almost midnight when they arrived back in Tokyo. The city was glowing with colorful lights from brightly-lit billboards, buildings, car headlights and streetlamps. Rei's eyes were starting to sting from the need to sleep. She closed them tight, blinking rapidly to fight the stinging sensation. Noticing her dilemma, Yaten took her by the hand, guiding to a bus station that would get them close to their apartment building.
They chose a seat at the back of the nearly desolate bus. Quietly, they drove through the city like a ghost in the night. Soft, orange light flickered into the bus from the streetlights posted at intervals along the street with the LED lights from the advertisements glaring off the windows. The only sound was the quiet purr of the bus as it made its way towards the next stop.
Yaten gently pulled Rei towards him to lay her head on his shoulder. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his waist, lazily placing a kiss on his neck before settling into his safe, warm embrace. He returned with a kiss on her head before resting his head on top. Comfort filled the air around them again, melting away the frustrations of the whole day. She took a deep breath, relishing the warm scent of his skin. Before she fell asleep, his deep, low voice called her back to consciousness.
"You should just skip work tomorrow," he whispered into her hair, gently combing his long fingers through the dark strands. "Stay home with me," he said in a low, seductive voice.
Rei smiled, knowing it was his way of saying, "Sorry for keeping you up so late."
"Mmm, that sounds nice," she mumbled.
They sat in silence for a while, hearing the steady hum of the bus, feeling the small shakes of the bus at it went over uneven road. People often say that time seems to stop when you're doing something you don't like such as homework or going to the DMV. But Yaten disagreed. This was a moment that felt like time had stopped. A moment of amity in your own quiet sphere when everything is good, in the quiet stillness of night.
"Today was a good day," she said softly after a long pause. "Even though you got us lost," she sleepily joked. He frowned at her before letting out a throaty chuckle. The vibration sent tingles down her spine. The chill of the night air reached her skin, motivating her to sink deeper into his embrace. "We should do another day trip. But this time, I get to choose where we go."
"Anywhere with you."
They remained in their warm embrace in the cool night, lulled by the steady rhythm of the world around them. Yaten's eyes slowly blinked until they finally shut for sleep. Rei felt his body relax, the expansion and sinking of his chest steadying in a slow rhythm, his heartbeat subtly slowing to a relaxed state.
"Do not go to sleep," she said, her voice heavy with sleep.
"Mmm," was the response he gave to acknowledge that he heard her, but he did not stir.
"If you fall asleep, we'll miss our stop," she yawned.
"Then you stay awake," he mumbled.
"You're impossible," she said, lightly punching his shoulder.
He just laughed. "Marry me."
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Thank you to all who read this. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading (maybe even developed
some feelings for Reiten XD jk). I did reference Sol Levine's story "Aléjate de mi", the story
that motivated me to join FF and write for this beautiful couple. If you haven't read it,
what the heck are you doing? Go read it right now.
Any and all reviews are appreciated.
~Dreaming Blue Sky