AN:- Hey everyone I'm back with Chapter 8 of ROTS, I hope you guy will continue to read and provide me with some feedback. I appreciate each and everyone of my reviewers as it's like a much needed soldier pill to a shinobi ^^. I dedicate this chapter to my partner in crime - Renata Swift who faithfully proofreads and puts up with my atrocious grammar! Thank you so much loveinthebattlefield for you continuous support! Please continue to review and provide feedback for me!
Disclaimer, I don't own Sailor Moon and never will (SOBSOB)
Chapter 8 - Salt and Pepper
"Have you changed? Am I no longer in your heart now?
When I, I think about you, It hurts, hurts, hurts so much."
- 2NE1, "It Hurts"
"Hino-san, where should I put the documents?"
Rei looked up from her desk and stared at her faithful assistant Kagura's wrinkled face. "I should look at those, Kagura-san. I've been neglecting my duties recently. Please leave it on my desk," she told him with a small smile. The woman nodded at her and went back to her desk.
She looked at the temple's ceiling and felt a small amount of pride trickle into her cold form as she looked at her study, which had been converted into an office. She had decided to open a rehab class in the shrine; she remembered when she had told her friends of the plans, they supported her and some even wondered why she chose being a therapist.
People had questioned her career choice ever since she had given up being the Head Priestess of the shrine's position; she knew the options that followed would have been playing socialite or being married. Rei would rather be tortured by Metallia then be married off to some tool her father picked for her, so she made her choice when she graduated from high school.
Rei had surprised everyone when she announced she was getting a degree in psychotherapy; it had proved useful for her mental health. She had barely anyone left in her world since her grandfather's death three years ago, and after taking part time jobs to support her college tuition and moving in with Minako, she balanced her act.
She was so in tune with her patients that she found herself strangely attached to the broken people who visited her shrine. Knowing she wasn't one of those few people who felt empty at times when she was alone comforted her. Rei knew the girls would probably kick her for thinking such things, but sometimes it hurt her, more than she would admit but, she was lonely. She wished that she wasn't so reserved and private - a part of her wanted to be as vivacious as Minako, or as happy-go-lucky as Usagi, or as sweet as Ami and as friendly as Makoto. But she was Rei - an awkward turtle, what with her rigidity and privacy, who flew off the handle when her buttons were pushed, and scared every man within a mile from her shrine. She was comforted that her prickly self still had friends who loved her despite her shrew-like nature; she loved her friends dearly and she wouldn't survive without them.
Rei shook her head. She was getting sentimental and she needed to concentrate on her job. She had begun to read her much neglected documents when she was interrupted from a smiling Kagura.
"Hino-san, you have a visitor," said the woman warmly and Rei peered over the older woman's shoulder to spot a familiar towering figure with messy black hair.
"Mamoru-san!" she said, and the man smiled at her warmly as she greeted him. "Please sit down. Do you need a drink?" she asked Mamoru as he sat in front of her desk.
"Tea would be lovely, Rei," he said as Kagura bustled in with tea and biscuits. Rei busied herself with making tea as Mamoru looked around her office studying all the details intently.
"Usagi didn't mention you would be stopping by," she told him as he sipped his tea. He looked at her with a sheepish smile, "She must have forgotten; she's so busy with finishing her classes in time for graduation that it must have slipped her mind," Mamoru remarked.
Rei nodded in understanding. "Is there anything you want to discuss…?" she probed hesitantly as he avoided her eyes temporarily.
"Well...there is one thing I've been meaning to talk to you about," he admitted, and folded his hands together.
Rei looked at his midnight blue eyes and raised a delicate eyebrow at him, "Go on," she said, and he cleared his throat.
"I need a favor…a big one."
"It depends on what it is, Mamoru," she said and looked at him worriedly.
"No, it's not something to do with the attacks, it's slightly more personal in nature," he said, waving his hand as if to dismiss her worry.
"It's about Jadeite," Mamoru blurted finally, and her violet eyes hardened instantly at the mention of the Shitennou.
"I refuse."
"Aw, come on Rei, hear me out! I haven't even told you what it is."
"If it's about...him, then it won't be anything good."
"You judge him too harshly," Mamoru said, looking at her critically.
"Can you blame me? He destroyed me, Mamoru. Please understand that there some things people are entitled to hold as grudges for the better," Rei replied harshly and looked away.
"Rei this isn't about you and him getting together. I need your help as a professional." He pleaded and looked at her with a puppy dog expression on his handsome face.
She cursed Usagi for teaching him her infamous puppy dog expression and finally made a decision. She couldn't refuse Mamoru if it was something to do with her profession. She needed to stay as unbiased as possible about the favor and she vowed she wasn't making the same mistake twice.
Rei sighed and looked at him with resolve burning in her hardened violet eyes.
"What do you want me to do?"
Mamoru smiled at her sincerely for the first time since his visit.
"It's a horrible tragedy."
"I can't believe she would do this to herself. Such a sweet girl..."
"I know. I was shocked when we were called to break the door down."
Zoicite peered discreetly from his position near the donut rack of the bakery as he watched two police officers chat as they sipped coffee in a booth nearby. He had developed a habit of visiting this bakery since he started going to university; he avoided going to the arcade despite it being of good quality and cheaper than the bakery.
But he needed to stay away; he had promised Mercury...no, Ami, one thing when he first sought her after his reincarnation, and that was distance.
The more space he gave her, the better she felt, even if it was a large sacrifice on his part. He could live with that decision and he frankly didn't regret it as much as he thought it would. Zoicite knew he needed space as well - he was adjusting to the world he was reincarnated in and trying to learn how it worked. His heart ached for his kingdom, but his duty was to now redeem himself in the eyes of his prince, and he would do it. He'd be damned if he let himself forsake his duty one more time; this was a chance, and he would rather die than fail his prince one more time.
He took his favorite donut (chocolate with custard filling), paid for it at the counter and seated himself on the booth behind the officers.
"She worked for Eto Corporations. She was such a highly qualified girl." murmured the young officer as his companion picked at his cake miserably. Zoicite ate quietly and looked around the bakery to see if anyone was watching him. Upon noticing no one was observing him, he leaned in closer to listen.
"What was her name?" asked the older officer as he looked at his colleague.
"Kizuna Mei, 25 years old. She lived in the Shinjuku district. I feel bad for her - no family to inform, no boyfriend. She was all alone when she killed herself," he continued with sorrow in his gruff voice.
"What are the coroners saying?" asked the younger officer who looked up sharply. Zoicite ducked and stuffed a donut into his mouth to avoid eye contact with the officer. A woman stared at him disgustedly. He gave her a wink, and she scurried out of the shop.
"She killed herself alright, but the landlord was saying that she was a bit odd." The older man's voice dropped and Zoicite moved closer to listen to the conversation. He thanked Gaia that his ears were as sharp as they were in the Silver Millennium era.
"She used to show up home at late hours. Sometimes when the watchman conducted rounds he would hear chanting from her apartment. Once some neighbors even moved out because it worried them so much," he whispered to his colleague, whose eyes widened. He looked at his partner with a worried face.
"Was she a witch?" the younger man asked, dropping his voice to a whisper.
"I don't think so, Takamura. I think she was involved in a cult of sort. The coroner said that there was one thing strange about her body. They found one mark on it- a tattoo that looked like the symbol of some cult, and it was branded into her flesh. The coroner said that it was still hot when her body was wheeled in," the older man stated solemnly and the younger man gulped audibly.
"What was the symbol?"
"It had two characters - the letter 'E', and the letter 'C'."
The two officers suddenly looked from their booth to see a blonde blur slamming the bakery door open and racing out.
"I wonder what that was about," commented the younger officer, and they both went back to their coffee.
Tiran stared at his pulsing black crystal that was feeding on the life forces she had collected.
He closed his gold eyes and felt a weight settle on his chest; he couldn't warn Mir'aka about Eleven's plans to kill her, and she was now dead. He blamed it entirely on Empress - he never really wanted to join her cause. He had just been helping a friend. Mir'aka - no, Mei - was his friend from the time they were young and it hurt him to think that it was his fault she was dead.
He knew he shouldn't have encouraged her to get a job that would compromise her future, but his poor Mei had always been so confident and that was what led her to her failure. Now, he was tasked with killing a Sailor Senshi, and he knew Empress wouldn't accept failure.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
He whipped around and faced the smirking Eleven. His fist clenched.
"I wasn't thinking," he hissed at the petite woman, who gave him a feline smile.
"I would watch your tone if I were you, Tiran," she said haughtily, and he turned around and looked at the pulsing crystal before him.
"I'm not scared of you, Eleven," he said with his back facing her, and she sauntered towards him.
"It's funny, really…one would think you almost cared for that useless girl," Eleven said with a sneer playing across her lovely face.
Tiran clenched his fists harder and resisted the urge to hit her. Instead, he calmed down and looked at her evenly.
"I don't care about anyone, Eleven. You of all people should know that." He looked at her with a cruel smile, and she growled at him viciously.
"Shut up. I hope those Senshi kill you."
"I hope the Empress has your head on her plate when she finds out what you did."
Eleven whipped around and stared at him with rage. Her lips had turned white and her blue eyes resembled twin shards of ice.
"Be very careful what you say in these halls, Tiran. I know what thoughts run through your head, and if I was to let it slip to Empress what your true intentions are, your family wouldn't even have pieces of you left to bury you with," she snarled and teleported with a loud crack.
Tiran closed his eyes, thought of Mei's sad face, and went back to his work. He would avenge her and not fail the Empress. He had enough of that woman's jibes and the dramatics of this organization. He closed his eyes and the fahn egg appeared before him. He then whispered in its ear.
"Find her, find the one with a cold heart."
The egg vanished and then he looked at the scene unfolding before him, he would have his vengeance.
He looked coldly at the face of a dark-haired Sailor Senshi and smiled bitterly.
This chapter was inspired by 2NE1's 'It Hurts' and Song Ji-eun's 'Going Crazy'. Please review! ^^
