:: A FALLEN CHARM ::


A FALLEN CHARM ~ A BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON FANFIC
written by hitokiri firefly-sama

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Disclaimers : All characters from Sailormoon potrayed here are not mine and never will be, I'm sure. I'm just playing around with them for a little while, and I promise I won't hurt them ^^. Anyway, don't sue me if you're some guy from Toei or something like that, 'cause I have no money. Really! *grin* Enjoy the story. I worked hard for it.

Light profanity here. Grand total of six (I think) words ^^
Rated PG-13 for waff, angst, romance, and language.

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Longing for something that you don't have
How long do you want to continue wishing for it?
When I begin to understand that feeling like this
Started from the first time I met you

--- Fly High :: Hamasaki Ayumi



CHAPTER TWO

"Anou, daijoubu desu ka?" he asked again, concern touching his features. Rei realised that she still hadn't said anything, and she realised she didn't even so much as squeaked when she had hit the ground. She nodded slowly and blinked at him, feeling as though her voice box had decided to close shop forever. She managed to croak an answer, though.

"Ee, watashi wa daijoubu desu," Kami-sama, how humiliating this is.

He smiled and brushed back a strand of hair. Rei stared at that strand, knowing she had dreamed of running her fingers through that black mass of hair so many times for the past three years. But she had to fight with herself not to actually do it; besides, he wouldn't appreciate it. Her hand had dirt on it, from the ground.

"Sou ka? In that case, I'd better be going," he said, stepping out of her way. He hoisted his backpack to a more secure position, and she saw a strand of lint on his shoulder. She moved to brush it away then stopped. What was she, a geek or something? No, that wouldn't be proper. They didn't know each other.

"See ya," she croaked again, and this time she mentally kicked herself. He turned to look at her and flashed a smile that she had seen many times, but had never gotten bored of it. She watched as he disappeared around the corner, gone from her sight. Her initial sadness came back to her with a wham. She realised that she still didn't know his name, but it didn't matter for now. She had heard his koe for the very first time in her eighteen years of life. And he had heard hers as well, but she didn't know if he realised that rather trivial fact at all. If he had noticed, she doubted he'd like it. She had sounded like a frog who just had its tonsils taken out.

She sighed and went back to the Hikawa Jinja. She had no mood for school at all.

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Two weeks later and a week away from graduation, Rei still hadn't recovered from her foul mood. School had just let out, and her backpack felt as if it had just produced rocks in the last thirty minutes. She couldn't believe that her teacher still gave out homeworks, the nerve! It was almost the end of the school year and they still wanted to torture the students. That was one of the reasons she hated her school. It used to hold such a special place in her heart, but now that she was graduating she supposed she was destined to become a grumpy and cranky old woman who enjoyed doing assignments as much as a bench enjoyed being sat on. She almost laughed at the silly thought.

She reached the Jinja steps and plopped down on the hard cement. She didn't care if she was soiling her skirt, and two years ago she would have screamed if she had to sit on a chair that hadn't been cleaned with Lysol. She chuckled at the thought. She was a brat then, a classic pain. But even if she had been a snob and thought that every other living organisms were beneath her standards, she had friends. But those friends, where were they now? They had deserted her when she had needed them most. No friends, mood swings, and a nasty bout of depression, and you get a very unhealthy mix of a troubled teenager. But then again, she only had herself to blame.

Even Usagi. Her beloved Usagi. She had pushed away her best friend in the world, even though the kawaii bunny had implored her to let her help her.

And now they wisely stayed away, knowing that she wanted to be alone. But at the same time she hated the solitude, the kodoku.

She contradicted herself all the time.

She broke down then. She felt so sad, she just had to let it go. She didn't care if people were staring, why should they care anyway? All they could do was look and walk away, afraid that if they approached her she might lash out and hurt them. Yes, she could feel all these emotions, but like she said, she didn't care. No one bothered to comfort her, or even ask her what's wrong. Her heart felt as though it was bleeding, and she believed it was. Three years ago she had dreams, but now they were gone like dust blown away by the wind. She wondered where they went, when things had gone wrong. How she had messed up her life.

Was it because of her father? She didn't think so. He hardly ever saw her anymore.

Was it because of school? She didn't know.

Or was it because she used to have so much love and had given it all away, but not getting the same thing in return? She didn't know the answer to that, either.

More tears. She had so much of them.

She knew there was someone sitting beside her on the steps without even looking. She could sense presences, after all, but she didn't turn to see who it was. She kept on crying, making a mess of herself and looking like a fool. If it was Usagi, she was strangely silent, very unlike her noisy self. It couldn't be ojii-chan; he would have announced his presence a mile away. It if was Yuicchirou, she would have smelt his shampoo. After about ten more minutes of sobbing and sniffling, she wiped at her tears and looked up.

"Are you done?"

She felt like crying again. The question, posed as casually as was possible, was not said in an unkind tone. Rather, gentleness was all Rei heard as her companion turned a pair of inquisitive dark blue eyes on her.

It was him, the love of her life. She had to stop thinking of him as that. It was bad for her depression. Even though he was sitting on the steps beside her, she still had to look up to him, as he was THAT tall. Her eyes widened and she could feel hot tears welling up at the corners of her eyes again. Kami-sama, she was such a crybaby today. "Anata..." her voice trailed away in bewilderment.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's me," he said. He looked at her closely, probably worried if he should start a conversation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Hora," he offered.

"Arigatou," Rei mumbled. She blew her nose into his handkerchief. She did it so loud she knew he was disgusted ather. What a wonderful way to start a relationship.

"Are you all right? I could go away if you want," he said. Rei shook her head, not sure if she was shaking her head to his question or to the offer he just made. She sniffed. "Iya, daijoubu." Again she croaked.

He smiled at her, but even though somewhere at the back of her mind she felt her knees turning into jelly, she didn't smile back. She couldn't force her muscles to do so this time, she had been forcing them to do things they didn't want to do for the past three years. She noticed how close they were sitting next to each other, almost as if they had known each other for years and that they were more than just acquaintances. Rei sniffed again. She looked at the high cement wall to her right, searching the ivy for bacterias.

"Anou...do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly beside her.

Rei half-expected him to place his hand over hers, which was completely nuts. She turned to look at him and smiled faintly. She knew it looked more like a grimace. She wet her dry lips and felt tired all of a sudden. "But I don't even know you."

He smiled again, and from the way he smiled it was as though he didn't even see her bawling her eyes out not two minutes ago. For that small gesture, she was glad. She suddenly felt embarassed at having cried in a public place. He extended his hand to her. "Then let me introduce myself. I am Takujiro Kazuo, a senior at Jyuban High, about to graduate in a week's time. And you are?"

Rei weakly accepted his hand and shook it. "Hino Rei. Senior at T.A. Academy for Girls. About to graduate too." Simple and stupid. Short and pathetic.

"Well, Hino-san, you seem like you need someone to talk to. Since we're the only ones here, it might as well be me," Kazuo said.

"You're very bold, do you know that?" Rei said, amazed. Here she was, talking to the main source of her pain, and yet she found that she was enjoying it. It was just as well that he came when he did. She didn't know what she would have done. The thought of suicide had passed her thoughts a few times too many, but she didn't think of herself as a suicidal person. Often, she would instead find comfort in her fire.

But she was worried that one day she will stick her hand in the ire and then suddenly find herself engulfed in flames.

She hadn't consulted her fire in over a month, for that reason.

Kazuo chuckled. "I don't think so. We've been seeing each other at this street for quite some time now." He paused and looked at Rei. "I wonder why we never spoke to each other before," he continued, in a musing tone, as if really wondering the reason why.

Boy, did she feel the same way. "I noticed."

"Ikou," he said, standing up. Rei looked up, startled, and accepted his hand. He pulled her up easily, as though she was as light as feather. They came to within inches of each other, and she wondered if Kazuo could see her flaming cheeks. Her tears had practically vaporised because of the blush. She chuckled to herself. Her sense of humour was back, and only then she realised how much she missed it.

"Let's go to the park," he said. "You might feel better after going there."

"You mean I might feel better after looking at a bunch of stupid ducks swimming around in a small pond?" she asked. He smiled at her and she returned the gesture. "I don't know, Takujiro-san, I don't even know you." What was wrong with her? Leave it to her to spoil the happiest moment of her life.

He waved at her, as if brushing the remark away. "Aa, call me Kazuo." He paused as he did earlier and this time his look was practically burning a hole between her eyes. "I won't make you promise anything, Hino-san. You don't have to feel indebted to me, or anything. I just want to take you to the park."

Upon hearing his words, Rei felt as though the air was cut off from her lungs. She blinked at him in surprise. Slowly, like the coming of spring after a harsh winter, she felt another emotion play around in her heart, though she couldn't be sure if it was joy. It sure did feel weird, though. She hadn't felt it in a while. "All right, Kazuo...-kun." (1)



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Glossary

1. Anou - roughly translated along the lines of "Umm", "Hey", or the like.
2. Daijoubu desu ka? - You all right?
3. Ee - Yes (as in affirmative, a positive version of the rather vague "Hai")
4. Watashi - I (often used when interacting with strangers. Girls often use this, but there's no reason for guys not to use this as well when in a formal situation).
5. Sou ka? - Is that so?
6. koe - voice
7. kawaii - cute, adorable
8. ojii - grandpa
9. -chan - an honorific often used to address someone who is very dear to you, or to address a younger person (used in an informal situation).
10. anata - you (formal, can be used by both girls and guys).
11. hora - here/look! ^^
12. arigatou - thanks
13. iya - no
14. daijoubu - all right/I'm all right. Use it with the particle desu ka and you get a question ^^.
15. ikou - let's go
16. -kun - an honorific used when addressing a person of lower social status, or of equal position. School girls use this when addressing guys with the same age as theirs. Guys can also use this when talking to their male friends, or even to girls, provided they are socially inferior (like a male boss talking to his female secretary, or a male sempai talking to a younger girl student, etc.) Kuno-sempai uses -kun when he talks to Akane (as in Akane-kun).
17. Jinja - Temple (As in Hikawa Jinja = Hikawa Temple)
18. kodoku - loneliness
19. -san - an honorific used when addressing strangers, or just people who needed to be addressed with respect. Also used by kids addressing older people (like their parents, teachers), or by people who just got to know each other. Think of it as "Mr" or "Miss" ^^.

Notes:

(1) Rei added the -kun after Kazuo's name because she's a very polite girl and wasn't used to just calling strangers by their first name ^^.


The Hitokiri Firefly (formerly known as Earth Firefly)
Visit my anime/kenshin site, :: Ookina Yume :: at
http://www.geocities.com/shairil_firefly
or mail me at shairil_firefly@yahoo.com

What does everyone seek by fighting?
Does spilled blood cause flowers to bloom?
Until the precious tomorrow is in my hands...
I wander the seemingly dark future... -- Kiseki no Umi