The Return of Sailor V: Chapter Ten

by Vchanny

All characters are copyright of the talented Naoko Tacheuchi. I own nothing.

~*~V~*~

Aino here! What I would give for a girl's day out right now. And to sleep in my own bed. No hotel will ever compare to your own bed, I don't care what they advertise. You can file that under "Tips from V, renown traveler."

The next morning, after a pretty restless night of sleep, Minako moseyed out of her room, expecting to see a huddled mass of bodies asleep in the living area, but instead, found a very tidied space left behind from last night's bonding, and bagged breakfast with coffee sitting on the counter next to a note that read,

It's not my fault if this isn't warm when you two finally get your asses out of bed. Zack and I are heading over to Kudret's this morning to help him get ready for our journey to Japan. We will all be back later this afternoon. Will text if plans change. – Nate

She then noticed that there was only one cup left next to the bag, which meant Jun must be up somewhere. But he wasn't in his room, and he wasn't anywhere else inside the suite, so she gave up and took her food to go sit out on the balcony, thinking a little fresh air couldn't hurt right now.

Just about as she finished, she heard the door open and close. "Out here!" she called into the opened door. Moments later, Jun appeared, clad in exercise clothes and a towel draped over his shoulders.

"I see you're finally awake."

"I see you didn't completely drink yourself into oblivion last night."

He smirked and took a seat.

She sat back into her seat and took a sip of coffee. "Making use of the gym, huh? I don't think I've ever seen you do that."

"Yeah, well..." is all he responded, before shrugging and taking a drink from his water bottle.

"Well?"

He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Out with it," she demanded, sensing Jun wanted to talk, but knowing she'd probably have to draw it out of him. Kind of like another stubborn person she knew.

"Aren't you angry? In the slightest?" he finally managed to articulate.

She responded with a perplexed look, but then had a moment of realization, and smiled weakly. "Of course I am."

"But you didn't say anything to him," he accused.

"How would you know that? We spent most of the day together yesterday. Whose to say I didn't let him have it?"

Jun smirked, knowingly. "Because." A slight pause as he looked away, his voice trailing off. "I just don't understand it."

"Why I didn't yell at him?"

"See?" he chuckled. "No, why he just fucking kept it all to himself. I tried to get an answer out of him, but he dodged it over and over. He knew we were looking for him, and he stayed away. I just don't understand why."

Minako wrung her hands together a few times, wondering herself if she bought his short explanation to her, or could somehow make it sound rational in her own mind.

"Did he tell you?" Jun's words broke her speculations.

"Kind of," she confessed, a bit unsure if she should share their private moment with Jun. But really, if there were anyone she could, it'd be Jun. She felt unexpectedly close to him, as if she could trust him, despite their past. Funny how being forced to be around each other so much could change that, she thought to herself. "He says guilt kept him away," she finally blurted out.

"Guilt?" he sputtered. "What is that supposed to mean? As if none of us feel guilty for how things played out." He paused. "Twice."

"That's what he said," she shrugged.

He turned his whole body now to face her, no longer just glancing at her as they spoke. "You're seriously not mad? Why aren't you furious? I know love is your element and all, but I figured scorn would be mixed in there."

She rolled her eyes, and then took in a good deep breath before answering, hoping her thoughts came out coherently. "Of course I'm mad, Jun. But, if I'm mad, everyone else can justify their anger. And right now, we don't need that. You know, he was doing you guys a favor, letting you live normal lives, without the weight of the past looming over you. If I could allow my girls that for a while," she looked away for a moment, "I'd give up just about anything." She continued after a brief moment, "It's not like he abandoned you. He was watching you... albeit creepy," she acknowledged. "He was still watching out for you. Ready to take action in a moment's notice. If for any reason you needed him, he would have been there." She paused to gauge Jun's expression. "But me... he was hiding from me. Staying away from me was simply self serving. He wasn't protecting me from unpleasant memories. From duties. He was just afraid. So for that... yes, I'm furious. And I'm hurt. But, I am willing to put that aside for the time being, so that we can all get back home, and present a happy, united front to Mamoru. The last thing I want is to show up with a group of grumpy long lost brothers. You guys need to get along, not bicker. Accept his reasoning for what it is. Know he was acting in your best interest."

"And you?"

"Oh, don't you worry. He'll hear from me when the time comes. I'm happy he's back with us, but I'm not letting this go just yet. I can maintain this front of acceptance until a more appropriate time."

Jun shook his head a little and grinned. "Oh, that's dirty. Letting him thing all is good and well, then bam, sneak attack."

"Well deserved," she added with a wink, and took a sip from her coffee.

Jun laughed. "I will never understand women. And I'm glad I'm not on your bad side."

~*~V~*~

Nate, Zack, and Kudret arrived back at the hotel shortly before dinner, as promised. Jun greeted them when they entered.

"Ah, there you all are. I was getting bored. How'd it go?"

"As bored as you claim, you think you could clean up your mess," Zack mumbled as he threw some trash on the counter away. Jun chose to respond with a shrug.

"All my affairs are in order. Things are on their way to storage until I'm able to set up a residence in Tokyo."

"That was quick." He noticed Nate was grabbing a beer from the fridge, "Hey, Nate, get me one of those, eh?"

Nate rolled his eyes and passed his already open bottle to Jun before getting another for himself. "Anyone else?"

Zack and Kudret declined. Kudret found himself scanning the room, looking for a particular blonde. Jun noticed and spoke up, "She's out on the balcony taking a call. I guess Rei was not happy she didn't call her back yesterday. She's out there trying to smooth it over. Said I was too loud or something." He shrugged and walked back over to the couch area, to pick up the video game he had been playing.

Kudret nodded, to thank the younger man, and looked out to see if she was still on the phone. She was. And by the looks of it, looked like she was having a bit of a time calming the fire priestess down. He decided to go quietly join her, in case she needed to talk about it after it was over.

"I know, Rei."

He closed the sliding door behind him and nodded at her as she acknowledged someone had joined her.

"But, Rei," her voice almost pleading.

Deciding not to crowd her, he took his place at the railing, allowing her some space in the seating area.

"Listen, Rei. Seriously. Just for a second." A pause. "I'll be back tomorrow or the next day." Another. "Because I haven't bought the ticket yet, Rei. I'll text you when I get a flight." A third. "Yeah, I know. I'll explain everything when I get back." She rubbed her temple with her free hand. "No, Rei. I won't explain until I'm back. That's final." Her voice took on that familiar tone of authority, and it seemed to Kudret that the conversation would be over momentarily. " Okay, Rei. I promise." She swiped the call, ending it, and let out a long breath. "That Rei, I tell ya." Shoving the phone back in her pocket, she rose and met him at the railing. "So, how'd it go?"

"I feel like I should be asking you the same question."

She shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry about Rei and me. She just hates knowing she doesn't know everything. And, my refusal to share details with her has her furious." She paused and leaned on the railing. "But, she will be fine. I'm sure I haven't heard the last of it, but she will be fine. She's promised to stay silent for the time being as far as the energy signatures."

"I suppose that is a good thing. No need to get the others upset or alarmed."

She interrupted him, "Not when it's nothing they'd expect. Although, nearly two months have passed since I took off, and I'm sure they are suspicious of something. Especially after Usa and Mamoru tried to come surprise me and I wasn't where I said I would be..."

He nodded. "Well, at least you won't have to come up with an excuse. We will just come burst through the door and silence the questioning."

She glanced over and gave him a smile. "How heroic. That will surely silence them. Speaking of," she turned around and leaned her back up against the railing, "Anyone happen to purchase tickets, yet? Mamoru's party is in a few days. I'd like to not show up the day of. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to present you four."

"I will go inquire." He took a step toward the door and paused. "Need anything while I'm in there? I think Nate has gotten into the booze."

She shook her head. "Just a flight."

~*~V~*~

Flights were booked that night, and the following evening, the group of five boarded a plane to Tokyo, not without a promised text message being sent. Jun had a flat in town, where they were all planning on crashing in until they could find somethinggelse. Minako was sure it wouldn't be long before they did. One, they were all loaded, and two, Jun's place, while nice, just wasn't big enough for the whole group. For a brief moment, she thought about offering up her couch, but scrapped the idea immediately after imagining what the others may say or think. And Artemis. Oh how he'd howl over that.

As they were about to split into groups, those riding in Jun's car, and those in the rental, Jun started groaning about the long flight, and how they should have just teleported back, now that they all seemed to have their powers.

"And what about me?! Minako cried out.

"Or the luggage..." Zack chimed in.

Jun shrugged. "Eh, she could have handled our bags, I'm sure. I'm sure she travels with much more all the time."

"Hey!" she swatted at him, missing narrowly. "I take offense to that. I actually pack quite light in comparison to my colleagues."

Nate reached over and ruffed her hair a little. "Ah, don't worry. We've all grown quite fond of you. We wouldn't have left you behind."

Minako ducked down to get out of his reach, fixing her hair. "Oh yeah? That, or you don't want me tattling to Mako-chan." She winked, and left towards the rental giggling.

"Whose with me?" Jun asked, dangling his keys out in front of him.

Nate and Zack shared a glance and both raised their hands.

"The both of you?"

"Yeah, we thought we'd let Kun—Kudret here, have a little time alone with his girl," Nate said as he patted Kudret's backand then heaved his duffel bag over his shoulder.

Zack shot a thumbs up to their leader before following behind Nate.

"See you at my place later. Behave yourself, eh?"

And just like that, Kudret was left alone. He shook his head, not expecting this particular situation, then grabbed his things, along with the bags she had left behind, and made his way after her.

He arrived at the sensible four-door a few moments later, loaded the luggage, and took a seat on the passenger side. Minako looked over at him, taking a break from her car karaoke, and looked to see where the others were. "Anyone else coming?" she asked.

Kudret shook his head sheepishly. "They all though we would appreciate a little time alone."

"Oh," she nodded. "I thought maybe they were just all afraid of my driving." She laughed and buckled herself in. "There was an incident with a scooter rental while we were looking for you. Jun vowed to never be a passenger in a vehicle I was in charge of." After looking at his blank expression, she continued, "It really wasn't that bad!"

"I'm sure."

"Anyway," she motioned for him to buckle himself in, too. "You ready?"

A short, nearly silent minus her singing, while later, they found themselves near Minako's apartment. She wanted to get her luggage unloaded before it got too late, and having extra help getting up all those flights of stairs was just a bonus as far as she was concerned. It did occur to her on the way down her hallway that this could be misconstrued by her companion as an invitation to her bedroom. But, there wasn't much time to consider what she'd do about that. As she opened her door, she was met with violet eyes. Crap. Minako didn't have time to react, to stop Kudret from entering Rei's gaze before she'd seen him.

"Minako—What the hell is he doing here?"

~*~V~*~

AN: I think Minako ought to take back Rei's key. Huh? Ha.

This chapter feels a bit awkward to me, but maybe it's because it's been a while since I've written/posted. I'm so sorry for the delay. I feel like I had this great energy and inspiration to write, and then it was just swept out from under me. And, this is kind of deviating from where I had envisioned it going. But, that's kind of the fun thing about writing. Some times a story will direct itself, instead of following the plan. On the plus side, more chapters!

I know there was some concern, or criticism maybe, with how V reacted. I hope this chapter kind of clear up any of that. I just imagine her masking her feelings for the better good in this situation. She definitely won't be letting him off the hook—I think he did her a great wrong and she wouldn't forgive that so easily. But as far as keeping the peace—I totally see her doing that.

Thank you for all the reviews! I hope this was chapter was satisfying. The next chapter... may be more explosive. That Rei... haha.