Oh, kami-sama… Rei Hino, you've done it now…
Rei looked at the letter from her father, terror slowly creeping into her soul. It was Wednesday, September 23rd. After her mother's death, she always received a letter from her father, not around, but on her birthday. It was always a bouquet of Casablanca lilies, a white dress, and an invitation to the Rain Tree restaurant. Actually, it was about as much of an invitation as a gunman was inviting you to give him your wallet… The mandate would have what time on that year's 17th of April she would meet him. It was the only actual contact she ever had with him. One letter, and one awkward dinner with the same impersonal questions about her life and studies. And thus, Rei Hino found herself to be the only girl she knew as a child who dreaded her birthdays instead of looking forward to them.
You've really done it this time… In her state of self-pity after losing her precious crows, Phobos and Demois, and after the death of her only living cousin, Kengo, she had shut herself away from the world and had stopped caring. Her decent marks at the T.A. Academy for Girls fell to below average. And now, her father was probably transferring her to some private school in Chiyoda to the north to keep a closer eye on her.
She was helpless! He was still her legal guardian, and she was still seventeen. If she refused, anyone who gave her aide would be arrested for sheltering a runaway. She'd have to go into hiding, living on the streets and fading into the shadows. She'd only be able to see her friends as Sailor Mars, and not as Rei Hino. It was checkmate…
After ten minutes of frantically trying to work out some sort of workaround and failing miserably, she gave into the streams of destiny and opened the letter of doom. How bad could it be? Sailor Mars could cover the short distance of five kilometers in ten minutes, the average delay before Tuxedo Mask saved the day. Maybe she could even learn how to shoot miniature roses from a tiny bow…
Dearest Rei,
Salutations. To write this letter is both hard and awkward for me as a politician, and as a father, but these words must be said before it's too late.
Rei closed her eyes. Of course he'd make it sound like he was genuinely concerned about her well-being. After all, he had hand written the letter, and it could be used against him if he didn't wait until it was just the two of them to shot venomous words at her.
As of Oct. 9th, I will be resigning from my political office, and I will be coming to live at the shrine if your grandfather can somehow forgive me for my past negligence. I should arrive on the 17th once my affairs are in order.
Neglect. What an unexpected but true confession. She then knew that something was terribly wrong and continued reading.
It is not right that what I am about to tell you was what had to happen before I finally realized how much of a failure I have been as a husband and a father. On August 31st, a small tumor was discovered at the base of my brain stem. It is not removable by any current surgery, nor treatable by radiation because it is too close to my brain. Even chemotherapy will have no effect due to the rate that it is growing. There is no experimental treatment, no miracle cure, and no hope of surviving. In three moths, my body will begin to weaken. I am presumed to join your mother between March and May. I guess that is all I can say. Please, forgive me. Signed,
Takashi Hino.
What right did he have?! To shove her aside as excess baggage, only engaging her when appropriate for a few pictures to appease the voters! But, did he really, truly mean he was sorry? Did he truly love her as a daughter, and not merely the conduit of his legacy once he was gone?
He was a politician, and a damned good one. It took Rei several years to realize that he had wanted nothing to do with her, only because she overheard him lamenting how his 'feeble' wife was unable to give him the son he always wanted.
Of course, she had been too young to understand it at the time. Because of her innocence, she never closed her heart off to a young man named Kaidou, a hard working secretary that would take over her father's position when he retired. She had even started to fall for him, thinking that her father would demand that she marry him, securing his place as Takashi's heir. She would have gladly honored such a request, but then one day, Kaidou-san proposed to another woman.
Her father's one, single slip of the tongue when he thought she wasn't in earshot had made her realize how deceptive and how skilled of a liar he had been. After that, she understood why she only saw him once a year and why she always dealt with Kaidou instead of him. By then, Kaidou was seen as a friend, maybe even more, and not just her father's puppet. She spared him from the silent wrath in her heart, but not the bastard who had sired her.
The truth scarred her forever. He never wanted a daughter to have to pay for and support. He wanted a son to carry on his name! She was just a mistake. And when his weak, useless wife failed to give him a son and became too sick to fulfill her wifely duties, he abandoned her to wither away in the hospital. Rei kept saying 'Daddy will come. Daddy's gonna come. Just hang on, mommy. Daddy's gonna make it all better.'
Then one morning, Rei was told her mommy went to live in the clouds. Only at the funeral did 'daddy' finally come. From that day, she lived with her grandfather, a man she had never even met before, or at least, not when she was still old enough to remember.
But that wasn't the point! It wasn't about her and her grandfather. Rather, it was about the man whose only real contribution had been putting her into her mother's belly nine months before her birth. He was useless as a father! He had no right to crawl to the shrine and die in front of her! She had shed enough tears for the wretched cur. Never again.
Never again…
Why… Why am I crying?
*.*.*
"Gomen…" Usagi started.
"Oi!" Naru replied. "C'mon in!"
Usagi smiled as she entered Naru's new room at the hospital and bowed. "How are you feeling today, Naru-chan?"
"Great! It's like I've been prescribed bottled happiness! Could you close the door and slide that big, ugly plant in front of it? Don't want any orderlies barging in on us."
Usagi closed the door, silently pushed the nice looking tree in front as asked, and loudly slid the double room's one tiny chair to Naru's bed. The other bed wasn't occupied, so only Naru had to deal with the noise.
"Man, that morphine did a number on me. This stuff, though, I'm here," she pointed to her head, "but I'm just, well, happy!"
"I'm glad to see you're recovering well."
"I'm actually quite miserable, right now. But this stuff does wonders. I hope it doesn't have, like, a withdraw effect."
"So, no pain?"
"Are you kidding me? They hacked open my knee twice! It stings and throbs and aches and any other type of pain you could imagine. And this toradol stuff they have me on for the inflammation makes it a battle just to go to the bathroom. I feel like a camel at the start of a journey across the Sahara. And, I'm bored to tears in here! But, I'm just inexplicably happy about it."
"But your head's all there, now?"
She nodded. "Unlike last time when I thought you were Sailor Venus. Obviously not the case."
Usagi's smile beamed like a spotlight.
"Obviously, you're Sailor Moon. Duh!"
"Um…" The spotlight died down to a flashlight.
"Whatever. I've probably figured it out before and had my memory wiped or something. Anyways, before it happens again, I just wanna say thanks for everything over the years. I'd be monster chow several time over if it wasn't for you. And, they're gonna cut me off of the Percocet tomorrow, so if you could have whoever or whatever wipes my brain of your identity swing by before then, that'd be great. I don't wanna be crying buckets for my last three days here, worrying over your safety. They might send me to a mental institution."
Might as well play along. Usagi straightened up and did a two-finger Scout salute. "In the name of the moon!"
"Stay safe. Like I said before. You're the maid of honor. Oh… um… bye…" Naru smiled as her eyes fluttered and rolled back. Seconds later, she was passed out again.
"Um… that's weird… okay."
Usagi meandered out of the room, wondering if she really wanted to get the cats involved…
*.*.*
"Tadai…" Minako looked at her parents, who were both eyeballing her. "…ma?"
"Oh," her mother said. "Hello, Minako."
"Hey," her dad said, "how's my little star?"
Minako arched an eyebrow. "Suspicious and worried, now?"
"You weren't… really planning on going to school in America, were you?"
Minako's jaw dropped. She was in! Oh, my god! I'm in! "I got accepted at Julliard?! WOOO…" The look on her parent's faces said otherwise. "… hooo… wait. I didn't get accepted?"
"I'm so sorry," her mother said, nervously twirling a finger in her flowing lilac hair. "They, um…"
"Your grades," her father said. "They were blown away by everything else, but your marks in school…"
Her mother looked down. Normally, she'd be berating her for not applying herself in school. But on that one Wednesday in late September, when she had the biggest opportunity ever to say 'I told you so,' she didn't want to. "I really wish it hadn't turned out like this," she finally said.
"Well," Minako said, "it was a long shot, anyways. I turn eighteen next month. Too late to become a teen idol, now."
"It wasn't from lack of trying," her father said, smirking. "Just Aino luck. Doesn't always get you what you want, but it gets you what you need."
"What will you do after graduation?" Her mother asked. "March will be here in the blink of an eye."
Minako didn't have a backup plan. She was gainfully employed enough as Sailor Venus. All she ever wanted to do was be a star. Or maybe a volleyball player. Or marry a rich, handsome man and retire. But how could she really do any of that if she was the Senshi of Venus? "I… don't know…"
Her mom frowned. "Well, right now's not the time to nit pick.
Her father grabbed his briefcase and hugged her on the way out the door. He was heading back to Dubai for a few days and had a plane to catch. If everything went well, he'd be back Saturday morning. After he ducked out of the front door, her mom started to walk out to the kitchen, but turned around at the doorway. "I don't think you should give up on your dreams, just yet."
"What were your dreams," Minako asked.
"I wanted to be an astronaut."
"Didn't have the grades?"
She smiled. "I found out that I was afraid of flying."
Minako arched an eyebrow. "But, we've flown together several times."
She nodded. "You can't always let your fears get the best of you."
As her mother left the room, Minako couldn't help but smile. Although she had been rejected by Julliard, she knew that there were other ways to go about things.
"There's more than one way to skin a cat," she whispered.
"I resent that," Artemis whispered back.
*.*.*
"Who keeps calling," a teenage boy said through the phone after the third ring.
Finally! After four attempts, it wasn't one of her parents who picked up the phone. "Eiji," Haruka said softly.
"Sis?"
Haruka smiled. He called her 'sis.' No homophobic, anti-gay or lesbian slurs. Just 'sis.' "Long time no see, huh?"
"Well, you can't blame mom and dad for disowning you after hearing about, uhh..."
"I'm not calling to talk about that day, or about them, or to them. I'm calling for you." They hadn't simply disowned her when she told them she was gay, they had assaulted two minors. She shrugged off the slaps to the face and endured the punches to the stomach. But when her yokel father threw a half empty Suntori bottle at Michiru and it hit her wrist as she protected her head, Haruka snapped. Michiru had to choke her out to keep her from killing her own father.
Haruka had always been protective of Michiru, but she always remembered how close she had come to killing a family member to do so. She'd kept a cool head until three days of exhausting travel and a very nasty thing to call a female caused her to snap, transforming into Sailor Uranus and sucker punching a wounded Tetsuya Journey. Maybe he deserved it. After all, it was not a word you called a lady, but she couldn't afford to be the one losingcontrol like that.
"So," Eiji said, snapping her out of her mental wandering. "What are you calling about?"
Such a simple question, and yet, such a complicated one, too. She hadn't seen, or heard from, or spoken to her otouto in over three years. "So, uh… how are things?"
"Well, I don't know. It's kinda quite."
"Quite?"
"Yeah. Mom and dad have had no one to yell at about being a tomboy ever since you left, and I sure never gave them any problems. How are things with you?"
"Just fine." She didn't mean to lie to her brother, but she couldn't exactly say over an unsecured phone line that she was Sailor Uranus and that she had been in life and death situations on a regular basis for the last three years and change.
"Are you and Michiru still, you know..."
Haruka chuckled. "Yes, we're still lesbians. It's not just something you grow out of. That word just gets stuck in your throat, doesn't it?"
"I just don't want to offend you, that's all."
"Oh. Well, thanks, I guess."
"Hey, um, I gotta go."
"Yeah. Nice talkin' with ya, bro."
"Sure."
Haruka hung up the phone and sighed. "Michiru," she called, "I just talked to my brother for the first time since… well… that day."
"How did it go?" She asked softly in reply.
"We actually talked! I mean, it was only for a minute, but… wait… how'd it go with yours?"
"'Moshi, moshi.' 'Hello?' 'Click.'"
Haruka strode into the bedroom. Michiru seemed to be imitating Tetsuya's poor posture as she hunched over the bed.
"What was I even thinking? They had an unofficial, non-legally binding funeral for me three months after I told them! Like either one of them would acknowledge my existence. They act so high and mighty, and they're just as pig-headed as your mountain hick folks."
Haruka nodded, taking no offense to the comment directed at her parents. While Haruka had learned to appreciate Michiru's taste in music and fine art, she still preferred Japanese folk, although it didn't really translate well to the piano, having been raised as a farmer's daughter in the mountains. But their different upbringings aside, she and Michiru loved each other, and had turned to each other for support and comfort after losing their family ties as a casualty of social taboo.
"I'm sorry to hear that, babe." Haruka meant it. She never met Michiru's parents, and she never really wanted to. But she still had a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, after three years, her parents would have changed their minds about their own child. Unfortunately, not all parents had the same values as the Tsukinos or the Ainos.
Michiru flopped onto her back. "I'm glad I'm an only child. I never liked my any of my cousins, and my parents and I didn't exactly have a close relationship. I was just an heiress to them. An asset for their legacy when they were gone. I'm sure my dad's found a suitable young and talented businessman to be his ward by now."
Haruka gently laid down on top of her. "Let's forget about it."
Michiru sighed. "I'm still bleeding."
Haruka rolled off, then grabbed Michiru, pulling her on top. "Then let's just take a nap."
Michiru smiled as she laid her head on Haruka's chest, listening to her heartbeat. The two said nothing as they slipped out of the world of consciousness for a quick reprieve from reality.
*.*.*
Setsuna whispered an ancient incantation to the key in her hand and put it into the lock. She turned it, and the key vanished. The ambiance and loud sounds from outside of the tiny apartment vanished, as well. "Secure," she said. In a puff of green smoke, her long, gorgeous hair became an unkempt crew cut that had only started to grow back out again. She paused for a second before looking over, dreading the sight she would have to gaze upon again.
"C'mon, 'Suna," Rin said, not hiding her annoyance. "It is what it is."
Setsuna turned her head from the door and gazed upon the visage of her dearest friend. Rin's pink hair was only a little longer than hers, and her face was scarred after being terribly burned on the left side, punishment for rejecting her now dead fiancé. "I'm sorry. It's still hard."
"Like I said. It is what it is." Setsuna sat down at the small table across from Rin. "What's up?"
There was no need to sugarcoat it. Although Rin had quickly readopted her sticky-sweet, slightly hyper persona, she was also a veteran warrior and sorceress. She was only still a child due to the fact that she was sixteen. It was merely a numerical circumstance. A quantitative fact, not qualitative at all.
Setsuna nodded. "The moment we came back, the entry point was disrupted."
Rin grimaced. "Do you think they already know?"
Setsuna shrugged. "We don't have enough information about Vega and Polaris in this timeframe. But since the Black Moon Clan was defeated, and the survivors given amnesty back in our time, the only logical conclusion is that our enemy is still awaiting the resurrection of the Sun King in this era."
"Whom you get very tight-lipped when talking about."
"It is from before the founding of Silver Millennium. Some things are better left buried. This is one of them. Don't push me."
Rin shrugged and paraphrased her when she was talking to Tetsuya. "Any detail, not matter how insig…"
"Don't start with me."
"Fine… Let's talk about something else. Do you think Sirius will be here?"
Setsuna said nothing.
"I'm not trying to pry, or poke. He was the reason we won."
Setsuna nodded. "It is… possible. But he won't be the same man who fought by our side in the future. Those memories haven't been written yet."
"Why not write new ones?"
Setsuna was tempted. She had fallen in love with a hero who appeared out of the blue and turned out to be the guardian of the star Sirrius, the only star loyal to King Solaris. Solaris never showed to properly initiate the battle between him and the Northern Star, but that didn't stop Lord Vega from marching his armies through an interstellar portal, and onto Earth in his honor.
Normally, star and planet guardians were female. But it was a very rural area of the galaxy, so a few of the guardians, like Solaris, Vega, Sirius and Polaris, and even Mamoru, were male. But for the most part, it was still a woman's galaxy. But that wasn't really the issue…
It was a quick and violent struggle, and in order to save her friends, family and people, Neo-Queen Serenity surrendered, accepting Vega's terms, which included taking Rin's hand in marriage. Rin refused, and was burned on one side of her face by him. Then, she and Setsuna fled.
That was when they met Sirius. He told them of the ongoing struggle between Polaris and Solaris, a struggle that was forgotten by the time the Silver Millennium was founded. He told them that since people stopped worshipping the stars and the planets, it would probably be the final battle, as they would have no more energy to reincarnate again.
Solaris, of course, never showed, and Polaris died in an accident. Vega, once the Northern Star himself thousands of years earlier before the spin of the Milky Way switched the two stars from Earth's point of reference, took up arms in memory of his fallen master, leading the charge himself.
The war awoke Sirius from his slumber, and he rescued Rin and Setsuna when they were captured during their escape attempt. Together, they raised an army, waged a guerilla war for two years against Vega's forces, and when all seemed lost, they took control of the interstellar gate and attacked the Vegan capital. Rin dealt the killing blow to Lord Vega.
But, it wasn't all cheers and celebrations. Sirius had died in battle, sacrificing his life to save Setsuna from Vega's last surviving Lieutenant, Proxima. Then, after returning home, the two were arrested and charged with murder and treason. After Crystal Tokyo had surrendered to Lord Vega, its military merged with the occupiers, and the people had found that Lord Vega was a rather merciful ruler, as long as they obeyed him. During Rin and Setsuna's uprising, Crystal Tokyo members had died alongside their Vegan partners as a result of guerilla action, and as a result of Vega's ruthless attempt to put down any possible sources of help to the rebellion.
Being blamed for causing so many deaths, Rin was stripped of her royal title, and she and Setsuna were both sentenced to death. Naturally, on the day of their execution, her mother, still deposed from the throne, used the power of the Silver Crystal to help them escape. Their desperate flight into the Gates of Time happened only a mere five days ago as far as their internal clocks knew. And somehow, their link to the future was disrupted on the past's end as soon as they arrived.
Only Setsuna, and the Solar Beings, as they called themselves, had the powers to manipulate the time streams. In the future, all of the Solar Beings were dead. In the past, however, it was conceivable that all of the Solar Beings in their small four hundred light-year rural pocket of the galaxy were still very much alive. Perhaps they knew of Setsuna and Rin's trek into the past, and felt they were somehow connected to the missing Sun King. After all, they had been waiting for a few thousand years by then.
"So," Rin said, evenly. "The Sun King is dead, and that's that. Right?"
"That's all you need to know," Setsuna said sternly. "That's all you will know."
"But, why now? If they've been waiting to pick a fight ever since the days of Silver Millennium, why start messing around with the Gates of Time now? This is my third trip back."
Setsuna nodded. It was something to consider. But who else could manipulate the time streams? "The barrier spell is wearing off. We need to wrap this up."
Rin nodded. "Can we at least communicate, I mean, with the future? Maybe mom regained her throne."
Setsuna shrugged. "We'll wait and see."
Rin nodded again. "Sure! How long?"
Setsuna snapped her fingers. In an instant, the sounds of Tokyo could be heard through the cheap, thin windows, and their hair grew back as Rin's scars were magically hidden once more. "As long as it takes."
Rin rolled her eyes and smiled. "Of course. How did I not see that coming from a light-year away… So, what now?"
Setsuna grabbed Rin's black umbrella. "Luna-P! Laptop!" The umbrella morphed into a black laptop, and opened to a screen titled 'Advanced Stoichiometry.' "You're two years behind. Better get a move on."
Oddly, Rin smiled. Two years ago, she would have lamented the idea of studying the abomination that turned chemical reactions into math, as well. But then again, she wasn't quite the same person then that she was now. "Might as well."
"That's the spirit."
Rin clicked the built-in mouse pad, and the lesson started. She suddenly fluttered her eyes and slumped forward, audibly smacking her forehead onto the table while making an exaggerated snoring noise.
"Knock it off," Setsuna chuckled. "There's a test on Sunday."
"Meh…"
*.*.*
School was school, lunch was lunch, and Slouch was smiling and talking again. The Senshi took turns escorting Usagi to and from school, making a point to never be alone outside of her house. With the help of a pair of cats, Ami and Makoto were at Minako's for the week, sharing the spacious guest room that had the many ribbons, medals and trophies that Minako had won. Saturday classes were awful, as the always were, and the group went out to eat afterwards.
After picking up Rei, Tetsuya was actually jumping up and down in a manner they would have expected from Usagi, and pleading with them when they started walking past the Subway they had all met him at. They decided to appease him and eat there, since it really seemed to mean a lot to him. Minako, having been the first to see him as he truly was, scared, heartbroken, and holding onto whatever tiny rays of hope he could find, was touched, understanding why the sub shop was so important to him.
Rei was a bit agitated with Tetsuya for constantly fussing over her for having to go to and from her school by herself. He was worried that Jihanna might have marked her as prey, since she was able to draw blood at both of their confrontations, but never seal the deal. Although Rei saw his point, she was still Rei. But, some things couldn't be helped.
After the meal, they split up into smaller groups and went about their business. Makoto and Ami went to a cooking contest, Makoto as a contestant, and Ami as a judge. Rei and Tetsuya returned to the Shrine for some additional chores that needed attending to. Usagi went with Minako to her volleyball practice and caught up on her assignments, which included the dreaded and confusing theories of a Dr. Fred, who apparently invented Coca Cola…
Her fruitless review was interrupted when she heard Minako moaning and saw her on the ground, holding her leg in pain. She literally dropped what she was doing and bonded down the bleachers. Someway, somehow, Minako had pulled her right quadricep, and Usagi helped her back to her house.
Ami and Makoto walked Usagi back to her house after she dropped off Minako. Usagi laughed about the time that Minako and Makoto had been shoulder to shoulder with her for an entire week after they found out that Galaxia was after her star seed, and all three of them laughed at the memory. While it was a similar situation, they were following Tetsuya's advice by not smothering her. They said their goodbyes and dropped her off, and Usagi beat herself up a little more academically before giving up and throwing her books into her backpack. She'd have to get help from Ami for the Coke man. She finished her evening playing her old console version of Sailor V. As always, she was terrible at it, and Sailor V died in vain many times.
Makoto hadn't won the cooking contest, simply due to jealousy and interpersonal relationships between other judges and contestants, but she didn't go there to win. She went there to cook and trade recipes, and she won that battle outright. Still warmed up from her earlier endeavors, Makoto was conscripted to help Mrs. Aino with dinner, smiling the whole time at another chance to perfect her passion. Ami helped a hopelessly confused Mr. Aino set up his new entertainment center, a process that ended up totally rearranging the living room for the best sound acoustics. Fortunately, Ami was a lot stronger than she looked, and the moves went without a hitch without even having to pull Makoto from kitchen duty.
Ever since rescuing the daughter of an Emirate Sheik from drowning at Tumon Bay while on vacation on Guam, Mr. Aino's career had skyrocketed. He traveled a lot with his new job, and some times, the trips happened during school vacation, allowing him to take his wife and daughter with him. After a lucky surge on the stock market, Mr. Aino sold his shares, and the Aino's moved into their new, spacious house on top of a hill by the bay. During parts of the year when the sunset was perfectly positioned between the buildings in the skyline, one could see it rise from one side of the house, then set from the other.
For some reason, no one ever thought to tell Usagi about this change in residence…
*.*.*
Minako Aino looked at her clock. It said 'SU-9:53A.' She had all day to herself, as the cats' magic had inexplicably worn off, and Ami and Makoto were bid a fond farewell by the Ainos that morning, still remembering the exquisite dinner the night before and reveling in the pristine sound of their new home theater setup. She winced as she hobbled out of her snug room to the tub. She needed a good, long soak. As much as she loved Hotaru as a little sister, she preferred to heal naturally. It made her feel stronger as she outlasted the injury, proving mightier than the petty limitations of her pretty, but petty mortal coil.
She started to disrobe when she spotted two felines in the water. They spotted her, and she and Artemis both jumped.
"What are you doing?!" Minako shot.
"Just enjoying the finer aspects of human luxary," Luna purred reassuringly.
Minako looked at Luna, then Artemis, then Luan again with a look of confusion and surprise, and then it hit her. "You horny little devils!"
"What?! Artemis and I weren't... you misunderstand! We were..."
Luna's rebuttal was cut off when Minako threw both cats out into the hall. She washed while the befouled water drained, then shivered as she waited and waited and waited for the tub to fill up again. But, such was life…
Just as she was starting to get out after a nice, long soak, her watch beeped an unfamiliar tone…
*.*.*
Ami didn't stay for at the Shrine for long. She blushed as she kissed her fingers and lightly tapped Tetsuya on the lips, saying that it was from Makoto. She bonked him when he asked if Makoto had kissed her on the lips when requesting the message to be delivered. Then, Rei bonked him as well. For some reason, it seemed to be a touchy subject. Before she left, Ami gave Tetsuya a sparkly, aqua blue book that was her journal. She told him the magic phrase necessary to read it, and left before he could tease her about how girly it was, and that he'd never be able to read it in public.
Rei snuck off with Yuuichirou, leaving Tetsuya to enjoy his Sunday in peace. He thought about sneaking off to see Makoto, but felt compelled to learn more about the girls as Senshi. Eventually, he was able to say the whole phrase without laughing, turning the scribbles into words, and even pictures, some drawn by had, some photos, and some computer generated. "I love tuna fish and field mice pudding."
*.*.*
"I'll get to him eventually," Rei said, referring to telling Tetsuya about the situation with her father.
Yuuichirou nodded to her. "It's just so sad."
Rei shrugged. "Power, success, honor, or at least his interpretation of it. That's all that ever really mattered to him. Love wasn't a part of the equation. Just duty, loyalty, respect…"
"So, we're back on the down low again?"
Rei nodded. "We are on the super down low." She looked over at him. The two had a few feet between them as they walked and talked. It was a nice, sunny Sunday, around noon. It would have been a date, but Rei's senses told her that there might be a spy about, as she had suddenly become a slightly more tangible part of her father's life.
"I waited four years to win your heart. I can wait a little longer to make that claim."
"Yeah. It's just so strange. I thought all this time that my grandfather resented you for how you felt about me, but, he was protecting both of us by trying to keep us apart. It's… just… hard knowing… the truth." Rei forced back the tears, looking away from Yuuichirou. She wanted to feel his arms around her. She wanted to cry on his shoulder while he held her tight. And she knew that if he saw her crying, it would break his resolve to keep his distance. She had to be strong for the both of them.
The truth wasn't your typical fairy tale. Takashi Hino was an up and coming politician with a considerable amount of money from his inheritance, and a shameless opportunist. He had one day overheard about a Shinto priest whose wife's illness, and eventual funeral, had nearly bankrupted him. He would lose his shrine, and he and his beautiful daughter would become homeless.
Takashi knew that in his earlier days, the priest had been a rather handsome man. While Takashi wasn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination, his looks were, simply put, plain. But if he were to win the hand of the gorgeous Risa Ibuki, with any luck, his son would practically be a prince! And having the gorgeous daughter of a Shinto priest would also be a huge boon to his already successful political career.
That day, Risa and her father were made an offer that neither one could refuse. Takashi would buy the Hikawa Shrine and let the priest continue his work there. In exchange, Risa would marry him. It wasn't a shameful plan. Takashi was a hard worker and very successful, and when he wanted to be, he could be very charming and friendly. Risa saw him as a hero, not an opportunist. They were married early that summer, and soon after, Risa was expecting.
Nine months later, Risa delivered a healthy child. But, there was a slight problem. The child wasn't a son. She was given a fitting name, but Takashi did not hide his disappointment in his wife. Soon after, she became ill, and was unable to bear any more children. Takashi saw very little of his family afterwards, save a very public trip to Tokyo Disneyland for Rei's third birthday.
The day after, Risa became sick, and was hospitalized again. It was the same illness that had killed her mother, and it would claim her as well. Risa never saw Takashi again. Only her father and Rei ever came. Risa was ready to accept her fate until she heard that Takashi planned to send Rei to a boarding school in England. Although it would be among the finest education a young girl could receive, she wanted Rei to be with her family.
She wrote out a journal, revealing Takashi for the venomous man that he truly was. Such a journal could potentially destroy his career, and when Risa's time came, she gave the journal to her father, asking him to raise Rei. After the funeral, he confronted Takashi with the evidence, and the two entered a stalemate that had remained in place for nearly fifteen years.
Takashi was still the owner of the Hikawa Shrine and Rei's legal guardian. In addition, Rei would attend top notch private schools, eventually starting her long tenure at the T.A. Academy for Girls. She would also only see Takashi on her birthday for a semi-public dinner. Finally, Takashi would have a say in who she married.
In exchange, Rei would be raised at the shrine by her grandfather, and he would raise her the way he saw fit. As long as the agreement was kept, the shrine would remain under the care of the Ibuki family, Rei wouldn't be shuttled off to some boarding school abroad, and Takashi would be able to maintain the façade of the devastated, heartbroken widower.
"It wouldn't have ended on my eighteenth birthday," she sighed. Her father would've used her grandfather and the shrine against her to keep her under his reins. She loved Yuuichirou, but he would hardly be able to support a family in modern day Japan without the support of her grandfather and the shrine.
"It's a lot to take in," Yuuichirou said. "I'm strong physically, but I'm weak when it comes to the vices. I can hide away from them at the srine, but out in the world…"
"It'll be… over… by May. He'll be gone…"
"What if he sells the shrine?"
"All he has left is his legacy. He won't destroy that. We'll appease him and his wishes until he…" Rei nodded. After everything the bastard had done to her and her mother, he was still her father. It was still hard talking about his eventual demise. And the fact that his demise would only simplify things made it that much more complicated.
"What if… what if he… arranges for you to marry someone else before then?"
Rei looked over at the man she had foolishly rejected for four years and smiled. "I'll get a divorce. I'll see you back at the shrine."
He nodded and turned the next corner while she went straight. It was her way of saying that they needed to split up. Rei's thoughts went back to the evening of the dance, and their excursion to the roof. Never in her lifetime did she think she would do something like that. But every step in the process just seemed so natural, and felt so satisfying. It was nice being in love, even if you had to hide it. And being able to feel that love… She blushed at the memory.
The happy feeling was drowned out when another old memory popped up in her head. She took the loss of Mamoru when finding out that he and Usagi were destined a lot harder than she ever let anyone know. She had even considered swearing off love all together. Losing Kaidou-san to that floozy he married didn't help matters, either. Why bother looking for a kindred spirit when her fellow Senshi were her kindred spirits?
But, the soul of fire burns, and it burns with passion. So, enter the washed out, hung over drifter Yuuichirou Kumada, the disillusioned son of two prosperous parents who had helped their only heir a bit too much during his academic career. He actually had a Bachelor's Degree in business, but never could hold a job outside of his father's company. Rather than taking a job for the old man, he tried becoming a musician.
He had some early success as a bass player when it was all about the music, but the underground music scene was littered with drug and alcohol abuse, and he was almost an instant addict. After getting kicked out of his band, then out of his parents' house, he spent the last of his money at a bar and passed out on the steps of the shrine on a fateful autumn evening.
It was the night that Zoisite had tried to take one of the seven Rainbow Crystals from Rei's grandfather. The commotion had woken him up, and he instantly fell in love the moment he turned around and saw Rei for the first time. The rest was history…
Rei longed for those days of innocence and ignorance. They had been difficult, and yet, so simple. Save the victim of the day, kill the monster of the day, sometimes, fight a boss. It wasn't like that anymore. The Klijargans had completely disregarded the formula. Instead of a weekly monster or what not, you just had monsters who looked like people. Instead of always saving the victim, seventeen innocent people were dead, and three more had been badly injured. It wasn't how things were supposed to be, and yet, it was.
The gods must be stupid…
Rei's reverie was interrupted when her watched chirped the jingle 'Go Go Power Rangers.' "Hai, Tetsuya-kun?"
*.*.*
A note on the front page told Tetsuya that Ami was working on a side journal for Minako's time as Sailor V. His eyes widened. How was he just now finding out that Minako was also the legendary Sailor V?! He rolled his eyes, and had a quick laugh at the absurdity of how big things were often missed while little things were scrutinized. And with that, he started reading about a klutzy, under-achieving crybaby in second year junior-high who got a thirty percent on her math test.
He read through Ami's introduction, her one whole mission where it was just her and Usagi, and then Rei's dramatic appearance as the Senshi of Mars. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Rei wasn't reading it as well. As expected, the room was empty. Ami wasn't mean, but she didn't sugarcoat anything, either. Then again, as tactfully harsh as she was with Rei and Usagi, she was even harder on herself. At least she didn't have delusions of grandeur, something that plagued fanfiction writers who had the gall to write themselves in as some godlike super character.
The sins and insults upon canon at the devious hands of those blissfully ignorant authors was hardly the point, and he continued through, and then beyond Jadite's sudden disappearance. He blinked back tears as he read of the sad, heroic end of Nephrite, remembering the orange ribbon that was holding Naru's tourniquet in place after he killed Jorvist. He admired Naru's resiliency, finding love and happiness again after such a loss. He began to wonder if…
Jihanna…
It was Sunday! How the hell could he be so stupid?! He had always thought of himself as smart, sharp, observant, and able to think outside the box. And yet, he let slip by the fact that that very Sunday was the last chance Jihanna could attack if she didn't want to concede the holy trial to Telleschya's Emulators.
He tapped in the code for Usagi. "Usagi-chan! Listen to…"
He heard a scream on the other end. His heart was pounding in his chest, but it quickly flooded with relief, and embarrassment, when the voice on the other end spoke.
"Ecchi!" Minako screamed.
Tetsuya was looking at what seemed to be a wall, maybe a ceiling. He heard water splashing around. He had tapped in the wrong code, and started a video call with Minako while she was in the bath. "Sorry, didn't see anything, Usagi might be in danger, bye!"
He tapped in Rei's code.
"Hai, Tetsuya-kun?"
"What's Usagi's code?"
"Three quick."
"That got Minako."
"Her's is three long. Make them quicker."
"Bah!"
He cut Rei off and tried again. He was answered by the sound of Usagi crying.
*.*.*
*.*.*
*.*.*
Author's notes.
First, oops. Ibuki is a surname. Rei's cousin's given name is Kengo. _
Secondly, yes, I called Usagi a 'Scout' when she was visiting Naru. Deal with it. J
And third. I, too, have a fear of flying. I deal with it through a three step process. Step one, I get on the plane. Step two doesn't matter, because, step three, I'm already on the plane. Sucks, but you can't swim across the Pacific…
Takashi Hino… he was never named in the Manga. So, before the days of PGSM when I started this story, I named him Nobuo, after Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of the music for Final Fantasy games when they were still Final Fantasy games. In the original storyline, Mr. Hino has a pathetic, but plausible explanation as to why he did what he did, and he genuinely wants to reconcile with his daughter and father-in-law before the cancer kills him. That was when I was eighteen.
Now at thirty-one, I understand that some people will go to the grave more concerned about what they leave behind, rather than who they leave behind. And it still amazes me how such mighty and successful people can still be so petty. No wonder why Caesar Milan hangs out with dogs instead of people all the time…
A lot of my Takashi side-plot is based on the Manga, as it was pretty much ignored in the anime. On the other hand, Yuuichirou didn't even exist and gramps was hardly ever there in the Manga… Also, when I can get away with it without compromising the original Japanese story line, I'll throw in a few American dub references just for fun, like tuna fish and field mouse pudding, or negaverse.
Speaking of names, Saeko didn't become Mrs. Mizuno's first name until PGSM, either. They still can't give gramps a name, though… meh…
Next Chapter: When the Bow Breaks. It won't be up until late next week. Two more chapters after that and Lines in the Sand will be complete. The Call to Arms story line'll be five parts. I'd like to at least be half way done with part three, Rising Tide, by the time I return from leave and go to Otakon. Woo!
I have a week to play around with the story after Otakon before I gear up for my rematch with the ICND2 certification. So naturally, that'll probably be when my creativity starts to spike…