A/N: Not much to say except updates may start to come along more slowly. I have a new sub from the class so it looks like we are starting new content shortly, as a result, I may not be able to update nearly as quickly as I would like, but don't worry, this hasn't been left to be forgotten. Actually, I tend to think this would be updated more quickly since this is all mostly rewritten from long ago, bar a few fixes and actually typing it out.

I do not own Sailor Moon


Arc 2: Chapter 10: Night With The Guys.

"So yeah, as a result, she's been acting all spastic. Crying one minute, laughing the next and I'm at the end of my rope, really." Mamoru downed yet another glass of whiskey, Zoisite refilling the poor man's glass quickly, Mamoru returning the favor. "Anyway, I feel bad about it, but I can't just stay home. Somebody needs to work, I just feel so bad watching her suffer. If I was home, I think maybe it would be easier on her, but I can't keep taking my sick days forever."

"I hear you loud and clear." Minako sighed. She didn't really think of herself as one of the men, but sometimes she did appreciate a male's perspective on such things. The fact that Rei was just now starting to get off of her period signaled that soon her random hysterics would end, but poor Mamoru still had a long way to go with Usagi. "My problem is Rei is so confused she starting to freak herself out more than normal. It's starting to drive me crazy, I love her dearly, but I really wish I could figure out what her deal is."

Zoisite laughed, taking a swig of his drink. "If you ask me, I think her deal is that you're an intimidation. This may just be me, but being the type of guy I am, I don't necessarily mind having a stronger person take charge in romance. In fact I prefer it, but let's face it Minako, you're a woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. You're the dominate woman, and I think that kinda scares Rei."

"Are we talking into account that I'm more of a man than you are?" Minako downed her drink in one gulp. It was true after all, most who hadn't been told first hand, knew that Zoisite was a very soft spoken and gentle man. He was almost too girly for his own good and many questioned his sexuality. Those who hadn't questioned it didn't need too, knowing he preferred men. "Anyway, I guess I can see that, but Rei isn't a pushover."

"Neither am I." Haruka chimed in; she had always considered herself one of the guys. Yeah, Haruka was a girl, but she too like to hang out with the men, it didn't make her any less of a woman, it just made Haruka, well, Haruka. "It doesn't mean you wouldn't intimidate the hell out of me. Michiru still does and I've been with her for years, so yeah, Rei freaking out, I'd say that's normal."

"Not the way she does though." Minako didn't know how to explain. Twirling her hair idly, she just blurted it out; she had sat around this table enough to know that whatever was said would stay between only them. "It's like, she's afraid I'll hurt her or something. I keep trying to break past her walls, but it's like she's reinforced them. She'll let me touch her and things, but I can see she's not overly comfortable with it. I can deal without sex if I need too, I really don't mind if she doesn't want that, but…well I just wish she would relax herself around me. Even simple stuff, she shy's away from it."

"Why does that not surprise me…" Haruka chuckled. "Minako, you just scream sex. Remember high school?"
"Oh god, not that again." Minako had pulled quite a few outrageous stunts back then. "I only ran naked through the halls once."
"WHAT!" Mamoru spit out his drink at that. "I was never told of this why?"
"Because, it was on a dare, blame Usagi, she was the root cause of the plan." Zoisite shuttered, he remembered that accident well.
"Again, I ask; why wasn't I ever told of that?" Mamoru inquired again.
"Because we swore them to secrecy." Minako sighed; cat was out of the bag, years later. "We were in so much trouble we got suspended for three days."
"And that was how I found out." Zoisite smirked. "Makoto was also part of that little plan; I could have killed her when I found out."

"At any rate, your cousin's right." Mamoru sighed trying to get the images out of his head. "You are a very attractive girl and Rei may be a lot of bark, but she clearly doesn't have any bite. Yeah, Rei may look like a tough chick, she sure had me fooled when I started dating Usagi, but I'll be honest. Rei is the weakling here, she's like us guys, she can't read you and if you don't push hard enough you'll confuse her. If you push too hard, you'll scare her off. There's a balance here, the thing is, she's not a guy and so I'm sure she's not thinking with, well, lower areas."

"Yeah, I think that's the last place she thinks with." Minako laughed. "I do care about her. I really do." Her glass had been refilled, although she was already pretty slap happy, having had quite a few glasses already. Her finger traced the rim of the glass in careful, yet hazy thought, before she spoke. "I wonder what would happen if I did push her into it a little bit. She gets freaked out if she's caught off guard, I wonder what would happen, you know, if I pulled a really big stunt."

"I'd say you'd get one of two reactions. A very, very horny Rei, or a very, very embarrass Rei. Take your pick." Haruka answered into the round of musings.
"I'd say both." Zoisite cringed. "Please don't give the girl a heart attack; I know full well of what you're capable of. I had to deal with Makoto remember?"
"That's what she's counting on." Mamoru put his hands on his face. "Remember, Rei was there for some things too, she should know just as well as the rest of us."
"Care to enlighten us on just what it is you intend to do this time?" Leave it to Haruka to want to know the details.

"Oh nothing much. I just have noticed a few things about Rei that really send her into a panic attack, I'm not wondering if I address those head on, in a more, well intimate manner, what she would do. I mean, worst she can do is say no, right? Not like I really have anything to loose, and I don't think she'll break out of this by herself." Minako took the last of her glass, before moving onto the fridge, not wanting to become overly drunk. "I'm bumming a soda, I can't go home totally wasted, poor Rei isn't equipped to deal with that side of me yet."

"Well, if we did get you drunk, that would be a funny way to break the ice." Haruka laughed a little too loudly, almost falling off the chair. "I remember the first time Michiru saw me like that; I don't think we slept all night." She was quite content to drink her way through the night. Usagi was with Michiru and Setsuna, so she wasn't worried about driving, knowing she'd likely crash at the apartment rather than drive home. "I can just see it now; Rei wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do with you."

"Oh I'm pretty sure she would know what to do, I just don't think she'd have the guts to do it." Minako answered from the kitchen. Drinking had one common effect in her family. It made almost everyone on her mother's side total and complete perverts. Minako had a level of control over her drinking, unlike her mother, so she rarely exhibited such behavior, but when she did, she got wild. "I think I'll wait a little longer before I spring that little detail on her, with a verbal warning beforehand. I don't want to torment the poor girl."

"Clearly, because having sex with you could be called that." Zoisite deadpanned putting the beer to his lips. "I personally think that Rei may just not like sex."
"Oh no, she definitely does." Minako blushed. "I told Rei the same thing three nights ago, she hasn't slept right since then, and she's been well, odd."
"Like the 'I'm going to shout a million Hail Mary's odd' or the 'bumbling idiot odd' because there is a difference." Haruka answered gulping more booze.

"Neither." Minako shook her head. Both equations, although funny, weren't the right idea. "More like the type of odd where she gets a momentary second of courage before it goes back into hiding. I could have killed her a few times I swear. I don't think she realizes how amazingly sexy she is. That cuddliness of hers goes to a deeper level, and I'll say this now, if I can figure out how to get her to actually unleash that...hot damn, she'll be one heck of a lover, and I do mean a lover. Rei isn't going to be like I was. I know that much, but man, when she finally lets go, if she ever does, well dare I say…I may lose my hard earned title."

"I know what you mean." Mamoru nodded, he felt the same way in regards to Usagi. "There's a deeply passionate woman someplace in there if she's anything like Usagi was. She was so clingy and cuddly, I felt at a loss just being by her side. I was always nervous about doing the right thing, the best thing for her. Then one night I come home and she just…well, I'll say this, Usagi isn't just the innocent girl we all know, she has a deeper, far more passionate side than I'd ever have guessed. If Rei is anything like Usagi at all in that regard, I can see where she would be a lover, not a girl who just liked sex, but a real, honest lover."

"Well considering she's carrying your baby, I wouldn't doubt that for a second." Haruka jabbed lightly, she was having way too much to drink and it showed. "I'll bet she had you in a corner quite a few times, so tell me who seduced who?" Minako only face palmed while Zoisite tried not to laugh, Mamoru had a pink tinge on his cheeks that said it all. "I KNEW IT! You ole dog, so how'd it happen. How'd she get you to finally relent?"

"Yeah, umm how about you put the booze away before Haruka gets any more plastered." Minako rolled her eyes. "Meanwhile, I do need to be getting back to Rei. Thanks for the drinks, the talk, and all around company boys, but I have a woman I best be getting home too before her grandfather suffers the wrath of Rei's midnight panic on why I may not be home." She bid her farewell, warned her cousin not to drink anymore, and walked down the few blocks to the shrine.

Her mind wandered too many topics, but all of them revolved around the raven girl. Minako really did love Rei, and although the girl was a little more than stressful on a good day, and a little less than understandable on bad days, Minako couldn't imagine a day without the raven girl. All of the talk about lesbian bed death, while common, wasn't something Minako worried about, but then again, Minako never had a relationship like this before. Rei was too much to handle when she was upset, and yet, when she was happy, it really did melt Minako's heart. Something that had been said earlier kept replaying in Minako's mind.

She was far more dominating as far as knowing things. Love, emotions, being alright with herself, not having to worry about what other people thought, yeah she learned all about that early on. However, she was also hurt a lot because of her choices. Her first time, she had given it to a boy; just to keep him around. The others? Well she liked it. She wanted to feel loved, and since she was safe about it, she had no real issues in goofing around with men or women. However, that was just it, she had been careful, she had known what to do, and how to handle herself. It was also done in a manner that she knew her limits, and those of others.

Rei wasn't like that. Not with anything romantic anyway. Rei was the type that could get good grades, keep order and balance, run a business, or a shrine better than most. She had the abilities to dominate in a man's world of business and politics had she wanted to do so. Her cut throat attitude made her able to do that on the outside, but Rei was a soft woman, a very soft and gentle woman who feared pain. She didn't really understand heart break, not like how Minako knew about it anyway.

It was clear that Rei was just a more fearful version of what Minako had been in her younger years. Perhaps the fears were different, but the walls were the same. They were built carefully, and with a level of protection that wouldn't easily just fall apart. Minako had suffered through that once, she had built up her walls so carefully back then, and shattering them hadn't helped, only making her a weaker person over all. People had wanted her to change the difficult parts about her personality, and that had made her unhappy.

A new idea came into her mind. She didn't want Rei to change; she didn't want to play the mean lover role that on the outside looked so loving and devoted only to turn into back stabbers later. She knew that never worked. Her brain played around, an old, yet somewhat obscure idea came into her head. A level playing field could be built; all she had to do was set up the right playing field for the task at hand. Sighing she went to work, her mind thoughtful, there was one way to even the score, and Minako fully intended to taking it to the highest level.

TBC~~~~


Just what does Minako have planned? Guess you'll have to wait a bit to see. Next chapter we are going to go off the beaten path for a while, other characters are going to start coming into play again, how nice.