Pride

Red - Laundry Day with Rei

"Traditional or not, love was love."

Red, red red. Rei could see nothing but red.

Every single frigging thing in her laundry was red. Her shirts were red, her underwear was red, and worse of all, her formerly white kimono was now red.

The same red as the hair ribbon she'd eventually found tucked away inside her favourite shirt. Rei had her cell phone out and her fingers automatically scrolling to 'Aino, Minako' the instant she found that ribbon. There was only one explanation for this.

Minako picked up on the third ring. Rei unleashed her considerable fury over the airwaves.

"MINAKO-CHAN!"

"Huh? What? Rei-chan! Uh oh. What did I do now?"

"Your hair ribbon! Hidden in MY shirt! I just did my laundry. My miko robes are all red now! Do you know how expensive those are?"

There was an audible gasp on the other end of the line.

"OOPS! Ohmigods! Sorry! I didn't think that would happen!"

"Of course you didn't! Unlike you, I actually DO my laundry on a regular basis! What were you thinking anyways?"

"I thought it would be romantic! A little surprise for you. You know, like a favour?"

"How is this doing me a favour?"

"No, no. Not like that. I mean a favour. Something a lady would give to her knight back in the day. It's supposed to be sign of love!"

"Still not following Minako-chan." Rei huffed more out of habit than irritation at this point. "I'm no knight, and believe me, you're no lady."

Minako laughed. Rei could imagine the dismissive wave of her hand based on that laugh.

"Details, details. The important thing is that it's a promise. What I'm trying to say here is that no matter what happens, I'll come back for that ribbon. It ties us together, even when we are apart. You know, like fate."

Rei's jaw dropped. She had not the words.

Amazing how much mixed mythology and symbolism Minako could cram into one breath. Amazing how little thought she gave to such things as "tradition" and "social conventions". Amazing how happy Rei felt looking at the red ribbon again. Seeing the world from Minako's crazy perspective was a trip in and of itself. Rei fell in love all over again.

That's her girl. Traditional or not, love was love. Even though she was a total idiot sometimes, Minako made her happier than Rei ever realized she could be.

Before she knew it, Rei was grinning like an idiot herself.

"Besides," Minako's prattling continued throughout Rei's silent reflection "...do you remember what we did with that ribbon last night?"

The normally unflappable Hino Rei blushed hard enough to match her laundry. She did remember.

Amazing what happens when love and passion find their way to each other.

A.N.

Happy Pride Month/Week/Day everyone!

So begins a week of shoujo-ai with The Drifter, with two upcoming special guest chapters by my IRL wife, tiffanywillow.

The following 7 drabbles are dedicated to the entire LGBT+ community (allies, that means you too). Hopefully, that includes pretty much everyone.
I legitimately dream of the day where the community really does include everyone. Until then, keep reaching for that rainbow!

Cheers,
-Drifter.

Up Next: Minako's Little Orange Book.