Schoolgirl butterflies fluttered in her stomach when they finally reached the Hikawa Shrine. She looked up at it nostalgically, then without warning sprinted up the countless steps.
Hearing the familiar noise that always signaled her friends' arrival, Rei left Kimika to finish preparing the tea, rubbing her hands together nervously as she went outside to greet them.
As always, the miko was standing outside waiting for her.
Rei tried to hide her smile as she ran towards her. It was good that she looked so happy to see her. Since Minako had not told her about her return, she decided she would play hurt. "Well look who showed—mpf!"
Reaching the top of the shrine steps, the other Senshi were not greeted by Rei as usual, seeing as Minako had jumped into her arms, wrapped herself around her and kissed her.
They knew too much to be surprised, but were all the same uncomfortable, especially knowing Rei's new girlfriend was somewhere nearby, and probably unaware of the fact that Rei was being kissed by her ex-girlfriend and the miko was not doing all that much to stop her.
Minako was grinning when she let go of Rei's lips, legs still very much wrapped around her waist. "Miss me, Rei?" She giggled.
"As if," Rei decided to keep up the "I'm angry" game, now that she was actually annoyed by the surprise. She finally set Minako down, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
She shrugged. Not interested in small talk, she played with a strand of Rei's hair. "I didn't tell anybody."
Rei forced her hand away from her face. "You should've told me, at least."
Minako crossed her arms, "Well, here I am thinking you'd be happy to see me."
The miko rolled her eyes, was this the foot they were starting on already? "Shut up Mina. You know I'm happy to see you. But you really should have told me. I would have waited."
Minako looked at her curiously. "Waited for what?"
"Rei?" A soft voice called out from the doorway,
The miko stepped away from Minako quickly. "Kimi!"
Minako raised an eyebrow. She looked over the woman who emerged from inside, coming over to stand next to Rei. Her relationship to Rei was immediately obvious.
Instinctively, Minako began to scrutinize her. Her shiny black hair was cut into layers that fell a little lower than her chin. Her face was delicate and traditional, like a doll's perhaps, although Minako found her nose to be too pointy and upturned. Her bangs fell over her eyebrows in a done-to-look-undone sort of way, Minako thought, and her hazel eyes were so light, they might've looked yellow. She wore a gray knee-length pencil skirt with a thin white long-sleeve collared shirt tucked into, two buttons left undone to show just enough cleavage to be decent. She wore black pumps on her feet, making her two inches taller than Rei. Minako vaguely wondered which dentist's office she was a receptionist for, even though she had to admit that the skirt did make her curves look pleasing.
"Are you finished with your assessment?"
Minako's eyebrow rose further.
"Kimi," Rei said in a warning tone, "She's kidding. Mina-chan, this is my girlfriend, Ikuhara Kimika."
The woman bowed and after a second Minako bowed too. "Aino Minako, Rei's friend." She stated curtly.
"I'm happy to finally meet you Aino-san. I'm afraid Rei hasn't told me much about you."
Rei nearly winced as the blonde shot her a hateful look.
The others picked this time as good as any to step in. "Good to see you again, Kimika-san." Usagi said, stepping in between her and Minako. "I don't know about anybody else, but I'm hungry, and Mako-chan made snacks."
Makoto held up the picnic basket she had been carrying.
Rei's relief showed on her face. "Thank you. Let's go inside."
They settled around tea and Makoto's snacks in the parlor.
"So," Rei began cautiously, as Kimika served her tea, "What brings you back suddenly, Mina-chan?"
"Oh, I just couldn't bear to go another day without seeing you, Rei-chan."
Rei watched for Kimika's response; there wasn't one. "Seriously, Minako-chan."
Minako sighed, the others munching their snacks nervously. "My agency dropped me."
Rei's hands smacked the table, surprising everyone. "What? Why? How could they?"
"They said the New York market was no good for me. They were right, I guess, I hadn't booked a job in months before that." She rested her chin in her hand, staring into her teacup.
"Why didn't you tell me—us, why didn't you tell any of us?"
"I'm telling you now."
"Didn't you think you needed us?"
Kimika stole a side glance at Rei, earnest feelings clearly showed on her face. She looked to Minako.
"Of course I did, Rei. But I had to work things out for myself first; it's part of the experience. Besides, I had Artemis."
Rei relented. "Fine, I guess. Where is he anyway?"
"Poor little guy's still jet lagged," Makoto answered with a fond smirk.
Usagi clapped her hands together. "Luna will be so glad to see him!"
An odd twist in the conversation, Kimika felt obligated to clarify. "Err, isn't Luna your cat?"
"Yes…" Usagi nodded, and then remembered that not everyone had talking cats, "Artemis is Minako-chan's cat, and they're sort of in love, so we like to have play-dates for them."
Rei shook her head, embarrassed for Usagi and her lame half-truth.
"Ah, of course," Kimika said with a polite smile, although she had never heard of such a practice.
"Enough about that," Minako said with a wave of her hand, "I've been gone for a long time, hasn't anything exciting happened? I mean, besides Rei actually dating people."
Rei's jaw tightened up, shooting a glare at Minako that the blonde skillfully ignored. "What about you then hot shot? Meet anyone in America?" She asked pointedly.
Minako shrugged a nonchalant shoulder, "Oh I've had my share of interesting dates, nothing to write home about though."
"Wooow," Usagi gasped, amazed, "You dated American women?"
She nodded. "And men."
"You didn't tell me about that!" Rei snapped with an up start. She settled back into her seat, catching Kimika's surprised expression. "What kind of best friend do you call yourself, anyway?"
Minako rolled her eyes, "Yeah well, you haven't told me much either Rei-chan." She made a vague gesture in Kimika's direction.
Kimika's eyes narrowed; this Aino Minako certainly wasn't making a good impression on her, and worse yet, she didn't seem to care.
"Uh… Ami! Didn't something happen at school?" Makoto made a weak, but successful attempt to steer the conversation back onto the appropriate track.
"Ah that's right! How is Todai?" Minako asked, turning her attention away from Rei to Ami and regaining her impish grin. "How are the frat parties?"
"I haven't been to any frat parties Minako-chan," Ami giggled, "But if you like, I could ask Ryu-kun if there are any coming up."
"Oooh!" Usagi squealed in excitement, "I want to go to a frat party! It would be so much fun! Since Mamo-chan is out of the country, I could get away with it!"
Minako openly laughed, slapping her Princess on the back, "When did you get so bold?"
Usagi bit into a cookie, reflecting on it. "I dunno. I guess I want to have some fun now, after all, eternity is a long time."
"How romantic," Kimika said with a pleasant smile, unaware that Usagi was being literal.
Minako chuckled at her ignorance before she was elbowed into silence by Makoto.
"Well just because of that," the Senshi knew Rei was speaking of Crystal Tokyo, "doesn't mean you have to be so lazy now, Odango. Have you found a part-time job yet?"
The Princess looked clearly guilty as she twiddled her thumbs in her lap, "Aren't we supposed to be talking about Minako-chan?"
Minako stirred the tea that she still hadn't ventured to taste. "So Kimika-san, tell me. How did this loser," She threw a thumb in Rei's direction, "bag a lady like you?"
Kimika forced herself to chuckle at Minako's playful frankness. "Well, let's see… It was two months ago or so, when our fathers introduced us to each other."
Minako's jaw dropped. "Your fathers?"
"They're colleagues."
Minako found the will to close her mouth, but was still stunned. "You're a Senator's daughter too?"
She nodded. "I work as an aide for my father, and we often host fundraisers at our residence. It was at the last one when he introduced me to Senator Hino and Rei."
Minako was astonished. "You actually went to a political event?"
Rei shrugged, knowing she had voiced her distaste for politics many times, due to her father. "My Dad's been making an effort lately. I thought I told you this before? Anyway, we had been arguing a lot about me being gay. I guess he gave up and decided to make the best of the situation." She chuckled, reaching for Kimika's hand. "I nearly left when he told me he wanted me to meet someone. I thought it was going to be another kiss-ass guy wanting a promotion."
Kimika smiled warmly at her, squeezing her hand back. Unfortunately, their moment was ruined by a cell phone ring, prompting everyone to grab at their phones.
"It's mine," Kimika said, putting the others to rest, "Ah, its father. I'd better go; he needs to be briefed for his meeting tomorrow." She rose, turning to Minako. "It was very good meeting you Minako-san. I look forward to seeing you again."
Minako barely nodded to her. "Same here. See ya later."
Rei decided to walk her down the steps to her car, parked right in front of the shrine. "I'm sorry." She said before Kimika could sit in the car.
"What are you sorry for?"
"Minako."
Kimika smiled, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together. "Silly. You don't have to apologize for her, she didn't offend me. I'm afraid I offended her."
Rei shook her head. "You didn't do anything. Listen, try not to worry about it."
"Should I be worried about something?"
"No. Not at all."
Kimika's smile faded. She said it with total confidence, but her eyes revealed uncertainty. She looked away, up at the shine at the top of the steps. Rei followed her gaze.
"She has a very… brusque personality. I imagine if we weren't together she would be much more likable." She continued speaking, even after Rei opened her mouth to protest, "I had yet to see you so agitated too. You're usually so cool and composed when I'm with you."
Rei suddenly pulled her close, forcing Kimika to meet her intense gaze. "This is why I want you with me." She had learned, ironically enough from the Senshi of Love, that in relationships there were wrong things to say, and there were right things to say. She and Kimika had made a strong connection quickly; she knew all the right things to say already. "Minako… she's one of my closest friends, but she makes me crazy. That's the real reason why it didn't work between us. I need you because you keep me balanced."
Kimika all but melted under her passionately burning stare. She'd be an idiot to forsake Hino Rei because of some discomfort she felt between someone that didn't matter in the end. "Thank you." She caught herself before she said too much, emotions swelling inside her. She didn't expect the miko to have those types of deep feelings already. "I have to go. I'll call you later tonight."
Rei nodded, accepting her sweet, but brief kiss gratefully. She watched the car drive off until it eventually turned a corner and disappeared. Heaving a great sigh, she hitched her hakama pants up and prepared to face Minako and the others, without Kimika's presence as a cushion. She knew the blonde would really let her have it now.
Minako was sitting on the top step, smoking a cigarette, apparently waiting for her.
"Still haven't quit, huh?" Rei said, standing in front of her in an attempt to look imposing. "I won't say anything, I assume you've heard it already from Ami."
"Among other things. They all think it's absolutely necessary for me to see my parents." Minako blew a cloud of smoke up at Rei, who waved it away impatiently.
"Cut that out."
"Don't stand in front of me like that; I know what you're trying to do." She grabbed Rei's hand and pulled the miko down next to her. "I don't want to face them just yet, but I can't sleep on Mako-chan's couch forever."
"Stay here," Rei offered automatically, as if it was the simplest answer.
Minako snorted. "Yeah right, now that your girlfriend's gone."
"It's not like that Minako!" Rei yelled, causing Minako to recoil, even though she was almost immune to her tantrums.
The blonde flicked her cigarette butt away, annoyed. "It sure seems that way. Why the hell did you let me kiss you, when you knew you had your girlfriend in there?"
The miko looked away, searching for an answer in the dusky horizon. "As if it's so easy to stop kissing you Mina." She finally said with a smirk.
She cracked a little smile too; Rei didn't forget that appealing to her vanity was a good way to cut the tension, and the less tension there was, the easier it would be to talk, instead of shouting and cursing like they normally did.
"Seriously," Minako said, quieter this time, "Why didn't you tell me about her? History aside, I thought we were still friends."
"Come off it, of course we're still friends." Rei looked at her with a side glance, "I tried to tell you, as a matter of fact. But, it was you who said you didn't care about who I was dating. I should've known that was a lie."
"It wasn't a lie! I mean I did care, I just didn't want to hear about it." Minako put her hands in her face, sighing, "I was all alone in America, Rei. And Artemis doesn't count much when you're lonely, there's only so much a talking cat can do. I wanted to believe that I had something at home. I didn't expect you to wait for me, but..." Minako couldn't find the words to finish the sentence. She didn't even know how to. In truth, she did expect Rei to wait for her, and she suspected that the miko knew this.
"You were the one who set the boundaries, Mina." Rei said, after digesting Minako's words, her voice a little harder than usual. "And… I had no intention of waiting. I knew you wouldn't."
Minako looked away.
"But I did anyway… Two years is a long time." A bitter smile crossed Rei's face. "Sometimes, I think I'm a masochist."
"Kami, don't make me feel worse Rei!" Minako finally succumbed to her tears. Rei put her arm around her and let the blonde sink into her shoulder, sniffling gently. Somehow, they both felt better, completely comfortable in the embrace.
"Don't feel bad Minako," Rei said into the top of her head, inhaling the pleasant shampoo scent, "Kimi is more than I could have hoped for, probably more than I deserve."
Minako finally straightened up, wiping her tear-streaked face. "You're really serious about her, huh? I'm sorry I was such a bitch earlier, I should probably apologize."
Rei chuckled, wiping a leftover teardrop away from her cheek. "She understood. And actually I did tell her about you. This morning, in fact."
"This morning? So she slept over?"
The miko, a master of perception, could not read the tone of Minako's question. She nodded, avoiding her gaze, "It was only the second time."
"Oh," was all Minako could say. She could now handle the presence of a Rei-girlfriend, but she didn't think she could stomach knowing about the physical details just yet. "Well anyway, I feel terrible now. I would really like to make it up to her, and you."
"And how would you do that?"
The blonde put a finger to her chin, "Three-some?"
Rei's eyes widened, her neck almost snapping as she looked sharply at Minako, who threw her head back and began to cackle.
"Jeese Rei don't get so excited, I was kidding! Perv!" She continued laughing raucously, while Rei sighed and hoped she didn't look as red as she felt.
"Grow up Mina."
R&R Please! Next installment soon!!
