Chapter 4
Women Must Be Strong and Beautiful: Rei's New Secret Technique
At Hikawa Shrine, Lord Hino was sadly sweeping the dust and leaves off the path, but was very sad that there weren't any girls coming and going to the shrine. Inside, Sora had just finished reading one of Rei's Manga, and had placed it back on the shelf, when he heard Lord Hino sigh sadly.
"I wonder why there aren't any girls coming to the shrine anymore," he said.
"Who knows," added Yuuichirou.
"Well, here's your answer," said Rei, showing him a quarterly.
Lord Hino was surprised.
"This month's Nanako Magazine has an article about how you harass all the young girls who visit Hikawa Shrine," continued Rei, her brow furrowed with disgust.
"Oh no! You aren't kidding!" cried her grandfather.
"Darn right, Lord Hino. You're too much like Muten Roshi from Goku's world. But, I did find a word that best describes you while I read Rei's Manga collection, and that word is 'pervert'," said Sora, who had stepped out of the shrine.
"You said it, Sora. Gramps needs to change his ways! But, I'm kinda surprised you found a word in my Manga collection," smiled the shrine maiden.
"Nope, I'm putting you in charge instead," sighed Lord Hino.
Rei was surprised.
"You gotta be kidding me," scoffed Sora.
"I'm done being a priest and running this place. I'm gonna retire and do something else!" declare the elderly man.
He stormed off grumbling to himself, leaving his granddaughter, apprentice, and the Keyblade Master looking bewildered and confused. A short while later, Sora arrived back at Usagi's house, and could see that the blonde was struggling with the homework she was given, but was actually sleeping, which made both him and Luna disappointed. But suddenly Chibiusa began to tickle Usagi, making Luna shocked, until Sora stopped her.
"Hold up, young lady. I don't think you should wake Usagi up like that," he said.
He gently tapped Usagi's shoulder which woke her up, but at the same time made Chibiusa happy that Sora called her a young lady, yet at the same time knew that Sora wasn't the keeper of the Silver Crystal.
"Oh, hey Sora. what are you doing here?" she asked groggily.
"Well… I think Rei needs to talk to you about what's going on. Besides, Chibiusa's still adamant on where the Silver Crystal is located, yet she has no idea of where to find it," replied Sora.
"Well, I'll give Chibiusa some helpful advice on how her heart can give her strength, while you and Usagi meet up with Rei at Hikawa Shrine," said Riku.
"Thanks Riku," replied Usagi, and raced off with Sora at her side.
They had just arrived at Hikawa Shrine to help Rei with her duties after putting on extra robes she kept in her closet. Even Kairi, Aqua, Namine, and Xion agreed to help out as well, while Sora and most of the guys stayed in their regular clothes.
"By the way, Rei. I know you don't like it when Usagi reads your manga collection, but I kinda decided to keep the sound level to a minimum as I read it," said Sora.
"Hey, don't worry about it Sora. You're silent reading actually did put me at ease, even after you asked my permission," replied Rei as she helped Usagi into her robes.
"It looks great on you Usagi, but try to act professional when you're around other people," said Riku.
"Yeah, what Big Brother Riku said," agreed Chibiusa.
"Gotcha," replied Usagi.
"I wonder why we're getting so many visitors today," said Makoto.
"If there's a reason, It's to raise Hikawa Shrine's popularity by helping Rei out with her duties," replied Sora.
"I think I know the reason, it's because we get to dress up as beautiful shrine maidens," said Usagi.
"I get to be a maiden, and use my business math skills at the same time. It's great," smiled Ami.
Minako and Makoto were also helping out, while the rest of their friends were on guard duty at the shrine.
"With this much work, we'd better be getting paid a lot," siad Minako.
"Sure, you'll all get paid," replied Rei.
"Yeah, I'm just glad you guys are helping Rei out," said Skylight who arrived with his sisters, Serlena, Scarlet, Ivory, Verona, and Rei.
"By the way, Rei, what sort of business did your grandpa start?" asked Makoto.
"Oh boy, it's a really weird one," answered the raven-haired shrine maiden.
Sometime later, they decided to see what Rei's grandfather and Yuuichirou were up to. They could see that they were working out inside what appeared to be a dojo, and were exercising fiercely.
"Uh, what the heck are they doing?" asked Usagi.
"Got me, Usagi," said Rei Xiao Long.
"He says it's a new sport combining self defense with beauty workouts. I just wish the classes weren't happening here at the shrine, they're a big pain," moaned Rei Hino.
"What do you mean by that!?" shouted Lord Hino, making everyone flinch, but made the blonde brawler punch him in the face, that he was sent flying back.
"Hey! Watch it, Pervert!" shouted Yang's future daughter.
"What the heck, Rei!? Why'd you have to punch my grandfather like that!?" shouted Rei.
"Well I'm sorry, Rei. You know just as well as I do that I hate perverts with perfect hatred, and I count them as my greatest enemies!" the other Rei shouted back.
"Oh yeah!? Well who suggested that I be named after you, Rei!?" countered the blonde Rei.
"Hey! Can't you two see you're acting like a bunch of spoiled little kids!?" Chibiusa shouted furiously at the two Reis.
"Yeah, can't you see that all this infighting does is create a bad atmosphere around the shrine?" added Yuuichirou.
"Do you want to take an old man's reason for living away!?" barked Lord Hino.
"I know why you're doing this! You just wanna get young girls to take your class with you!" Rei barked back.
"And what's wrong with that!?" countered her grandfather.
"It's both disgusting and inappropriate! So guess what old timer, you're granddaughter's not even gonna take any responsibility for what's gonna happen next!" shouted the Keybearing brawler.
"Thank you Rei, I now have one rant saved for later," said the first Rei, as she walked away.
Lord Hino was about to ask Usagi and Chibiusa, when Sora stepped up.
"Sorry, but we'll leave you guys be for a while. Just go back to your training regimen," he said, and lead the two girls away.
Inside the Rubues' ship, Calaveras approached him as he looked at the map of Crystal Tokyo.
"Master Rubeus, where is Koan?" she asked.
"I sent her to take out our next target," replied the red-haired man.
The other Spectre Sisters were confused by what they heard.
"According to Rubeus, he was able to find another Crystal Point in this timeline, right here," said Hyena pointing to the map, which shapeshifted into an image of Hikawa Shrine.
"Koan's very excited. She's going to swap the crystal power in this building with the power of darkness," Rubeus added with a sinister chuckle.
"May I ask why you've given Koan this mission, Rubeus, even though you didn't entrust this task to Calaveras?" asked Ultimecia.
"Hey, what's the big idea, Ultimecia!? I could've done that mission with my eyes closed and one hand behind my back!" snapped Calaveras.
"Calaveras, you'll take no such tone with Ultimecia!" barked Rubeus.
Back at the shrine, Lord Hino tried to ask some girls who were passing by, but they rejected his offer to participate in his classes and walked away.
"Huh, not one sign up yet," he sighed.
He looked up at the sky.
"Where's Yuuichirou? He's supposed to be signing up girls for class. I can't count on that young boy for anything," he said.
His thoughts were interrupted when Chibiusa and Riku arrived after Luna-P rolled towards him.
"I'm ready to sign up," she said.
Lord Hino thought about it for a little while.
"Lord Hino, can you help Chibiusa learn about strength from the heart?" asked Riku.
"Uh, so your sister wants to be strong?" he asked hesitantly.
The two of them nodded, but Chibiusa suddenly had a devious idea about getting her revenge on Usagi after obtaining the Silver Crystal. Suddenly Yuuchirou arrived with several girls and told them that they wished to sign up for his classes, filling him with joy.
"Well done, Yuuichirou! I knew you'd come through!" he guffawed loudly.
That night, at Hikawa Shrine, Koan descended through the roof of the dojo, landed on the ring, and began channeling the darkness into it. Once she was done, Koan retreated into the corridor of darkness, in the hopes that by tomorrow, the Crystal Point would be saturated with darkness, making it impossible for Crystal Tokyo to be created. The next morning, Usagi and Sora arrived after greeting her.
"Sleep well? It's afternoon," she grumbled.
"You seem to be in a bad mood," said Sora.
"Yeah, is something wrong?" asked Luna.
"I'll tell you what happened, that pinhead Yuuichirou brought more girls to Hikawa Shrine to participate in her grandfather's classes. And it's really starting to get on her nerves that she might actually incinerate someone with a Mega Flare," huffed Axel.
"Whoa, Axel, I know that Rei's really grumpy, but you shouldn't assume things about her," warned Usagi.
"Are those girls ready for class?" asked Rei's grandfather.
"Yes, and they're ready for class," replied Yuuichirou as they passed them.
"I got a bad feeling about this, guys," muttered Sora, making them flinch.
"Come on, let's go take a look," said Usagi.
"But I don't wanna," replied Rei.
"Aw, don't be like that," protested Usagi.
In the dojo, a lot of girls along with a disguised Koan stood at attention, when Lord Hino and Yuuichirou arrived. All the girls applauded him, and even allowed him to give them a high five, which made him happy.
"With this many students inside, you might need female instructors, don't you think" Koan asked with a slight giggle.
"Could be," replied the high priest.
"Well, my friend and I know some good martial arts moves. Can we teach the class?" she asked politely.
Lord Hino agreed, as Koan gave the go ahead to start the class. Unknown to Rei's Grandfather, the woman was being rather rough with one of the girls, even though Koan said they would be teaching defensive techniques, but had no idea that Sora was watching from the shadows with a look of suspicion in her eyes along with Rei and Usagi.
"I knew it, Koan's up to no good again," he whispered to himself.
"Ouch, what the heck?" hissed Usagi, as they closed the door.
But Rei could see that Sora was right, and she too became suspicious about what was going on as well.
"TA-DA!" cheered Chibiusa, making everyone surprised.
She was dressed in workout clothes as well.
"Okay, time to get stronger," declared the young girl.
"No! Don't do it!" cried Usagi and Sora.
When Chibiusa saw what was going on, she was both surprised and disturbed.
"It looks painful. You might be right, you guys! I quit! See ya!" she said, and raced off.
"I'd say that's a good call," Usagi said to Rei, just as the woman continued slamming the other girl onto the ring.
Koan watched with anticipation, as she saw her anger flaring up with the power of darkness resonating in her heart. But the other woman who kept calling herself Dumball, kicked her out of the ring, making Lord Hino worried.
"Are you alright? She sure is rough," he mused.
"How was that? Did we highlight protecting oneself, master?" asked Koan.
Lord Hino was about to reply, when Yuuichirou stepped up with Sora, Rei and Usagi at his side.
"I am the instructor here!" he said, surprising the high priest.
"But I'm your instructor," Koan protested, feigning innocence.
"Let's let him decide!" declared the apprentice priest.
"Yeah grandpa," agreed Rei.
"Who should I choose?" asked Lord Hino.
He was hesitant about choosing between them, when Sora stepped forward.
"If you choose Yuuichirou, you might disappoint her. But if you pick this woman, Yuuichirou will be ashamed of calling you his master, and you'll have incurred the full fury of your granddaughter. Rei told me about how you and Yuuichirou met back then, and he's been living at Hikawa Shrine even after we met him. So if you toss him aside, then you've brought nothing but dishonor to the Hino family," explained Sora, which made Rei surprised.
"I'd suggest you keep out of this, everyone," sneered Koan.
She clung to Rei's Grandfather.
"So then, what do you say, big boy?" she asked seductively.
"It's me or her," Yuuichirou said bravely.
"I pick her," replied Rei's grandfather.
"You'll pick her?" gasped Yuuichirou.
"Then you've dishonored both Yuuichirou, Rei, and yourself, Lord Hino," thundered Sora.
"I'm with Sora!" agreed Rei.
"Come on you can't seriously mean that!" added Usagi.
"No, it's all right," sighed Yuuichirou, who slowly turned and walked away.
"How dare you do this to Yuuichirou! It makes no sense!" snapped Rei.
"That's where you are wrong!" protested her grandfather.
"No, both Rei and I see you for what you truly are, Lord Hino. And right now she's ashamed of being your granddaughter," hissed Sora.
The next day, the girls were dressed in their robes, but they were now on break as they shared tea with each other.
"Oh, so your grandpa really did that to Yuuichirou?" asked Minako.
"You must feel like he let you down. I know you care about Yuuichirou. What your grandpa did was mean," added Makoto.
"That's not really what I'm angry about," replied Rei, as Usagi munched down on her snacks.
"The most challenging problems are always the most satisfying to resolve. Take this problem here, it took me three hours to solve right here," chimed Ami.
Sora clenched his fist, and slammed it against the wall, both surprising and scaring everyone.
"That's not helping Ami! Rei's grandfather betrayed not just her trust, but he also betrayed Yuuichirou's trust as well! He dishonored the Hino family, and made Hikawa Shrine's reputation spiral down the storm drain!" he said furiously.
"So by the way, Rei. Didn't you think that new instructor was weird?" asked Usagi, who tried hard not to look into Sora's eyes.
"Do you think it's possible that she could cause your grandfather any harm?" Riku asked as well.
"At the moment I don't care what happens to him!" barked Rei.
"'Kay, you're taking this well," replied Usagi.
But the hot water caused her to drop the teapot, sending it everywhere.
"You okay?" asked Sora and Usagi, when they heard her cry out in pain.
Rei nodded and set to work cleaning up the mess.
"What's wrong? It's like your mind's somewhere else today," said Minako, when she saw the anger burning within Rei's heart.
Meanwhile, Dunball was continuing to send many girls flying, until they landed on the ring, filling them with darkness as Koan watched with anticipation in her eyes, at how the girls were letting their anger and their hatred make the darkness stronger. At the same time, Lord HIno was horrified at what he saw. Quickly he jumped into the ring, and tried to stop them, but the girls simply ignored his pleas, as well as his speech about girls should always be strong and beautiful. They all rounded on him, but he was able to evade them and take them down in one swift movement.
"You are indeed a master," chuckled Koan who clicked her fingers.
She turned to her droid.
Dumball, take grandpa down," she said.
Nodding immediately, Dunball's appearance changed revealing her true self. Her skin was green, her hair red-orange, and had red markings across her face, as well as wore a cape over her outfit. At the same time Koan changed back into her own attire, just as Hyena r. Droid arrived.
"All right then, once the old man's taken down, we'll turn him into a Heartless. A fitting sacrifice to make one of the Sailor Guardians draw upon the darkness within their hearts, as well as unleash Vanitas from within Sora," he said.
"Dunball, time to use your special double elbow arm attack!" called Koan.
But Rei had arrived just in time, and quickly rushed to her grandfather's rescue, taking the beating in his stead, but made Sora angry.
"You dare…! I WILL KILL YOU!" he screamed loudly at Hyena.
Hyena laughed and summoned forth his own Keyblade.
"Very well then, let's have at it, Sora!" he said.
The combatants charged towards each other, as Lord Hino made sure his granddaughter was all right.
"I warned you, didn't I? Now do you believe me?" said Rei.
"What are you talking about? You act like I'm an old man who can't handle his own business!" cried her grandfather.
Rei was surprised as he stepped towards Dumball, and challenged her to a brawl. He dodged the first strike, but was unable to dodge it when Rei took the hit for him, but made Sora even more angry.
"Rei, are you all right?" asked Lord Hino.
Dumball struck Rei again and again, but she did her best to endure the pummeling, while keeping her grandfather safe from harm.
"Rei, save yourself! You've done enough here!" cried Lord Hino.
"No, I won't! I mean, after all, you're the only grandpa that I have," she protested.
Lord Hino seemed happy, until Koan ordered her droid to perform the Dunball Lariat, but was suddenly stopped by Axel who sent his chakrams right towards the droid.
"Sorry to interrupt the party, but you should know that Sora doesn't like it when you treat his friends like trash," he said, stepping towards her with his Keyblade on his back.
But Dunball blasted Lord Hino with her dark power, making Rei angry, as Usagi arrived.
"There in trouble," she gasped.
She removed her brooch, and transformed into Sailor Moon.
"We're not done yet, Dunball," smirked Koan.
Dunball threw her into the air, and was about to strike down Rei and her grandfather, when something stopped her in her tracks. Turning to whoever distracted her, she saw an angry Sailor Moon along with Sora's friends at her side.
"You have crushed a slightly lecherous old man's whole reason for living! I'd say you've gone way too far. I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice, I am Sailor Moon!" she said.
"And seeing as you've already met the both of us, It's time we introduced you to our friends!" added Sora who stood beside her.
One by one Sora and Sailor Moon's friends stepped forth, saying their names, and even said they were Keyblade Wielders, as well as Sailor Moon's knights.
"And now our hearts are saying we want to stop you!" shouted Sora, as he pointed his Keyblade right at Koan, who was patting her face with a makeup brush from her compact.
"Did you say something?" she asked uncaringly.
"Did she just ignore us?" Riku asked everyone else.
"You know what, I think she did!" Sailor Moon said angrily.
"Oh, wait a minute, I remember now. Yes, you guys are also Keyblade Wielders as well as Guardians of Kingdom Hearts," she said.
"Okay…?" Sora and Sailor Moon asked at the same time.
"What the heck is she talking about guys?" Rei asked as well.
"Of course, you're Riku, Kairi, Namine, Roxas, Xion, Axel, Terra, Ventus, Aqua, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, and you're also friends with Sora Lucis Caelum," Koan said with a look of amusement on her face.
She motioned for Dunball to attack them, and Hyena ordered the Heartless to take the hearts of Rei and her grandfather so that they could increase their ranks. But when Dunball's attack was about to strike, a rose stopped the attack, making them see that Tuxedo Mask had come to the rescue.
"Nice timing Tuxedo Mask," called Roxas, earning a respectful smile from Sailor Moon.
"It's fine to train oneself to become strong, but I would have hoped you'd strived to be graceful and kind," said the caped crusader.
Dumball tried to attack him, but Tuxedo Mask kicked her down to the ground, which led to Sora giving him a thumbs up.
"Take her down you guys," he said.
"Roger!" they replied.
With their weapons at the ready they pointed them at Dunball.
"Moon Princess Halation!" cried Sailor Moon.
"And now, Zantetsuken!" shouted Sora.
Instantly the droid crumbled into nothingness, just as Koan noticed a dark spot on her face.
"Feel the rage of my ruined complexion!" she shouted.
She sent a burst of dark flames at them, but Sailor Moon ducked just in time. As she raced off, Koan pursued her, while Rei looked after her grandfather who was lying unconscious.
"Those monsters, how dare they do this to my grandpa," she said angrily.
She gently laid him down on the ring.
"Grandpa, I'll make them pay for hurting you!" she cried out.
Rei held her pen in the air.
"MARS STAR POWER MAKE UP!" she called to the stars above.
A burst of flames erupted from the pen, and she was now surrounded in crimson light. When it faded, she was now Sailor Mars, and quickly rushed to Sailor Moon's side, just as Koan was about to blast her with her dark fire attack. Pushing her aside, Sailor Mars braced herself and faced her opponent, as Sora and the others joined her side.
"Now it's our turn to take you down!" she said.
Everyone readied their weapons as Sailor Mars unleashed her Fire Soul attack against Koan's Dark Fire attack. The clash was both fierce and intense, as the two fire wielders continued to give it all they had. Sailor Moon wanted to help her, but Tuxedo Mask stopped her.
"I think Mars can handle this attack," he said.
"He's right, this is her battle!" added Sora.
Thanks to the encouragement of Tuxedo Mask and Sora, Sailor Mars allowed her determination to give her the strength to overpower Koan's attack.
"BURNING MANDALA!" she cried, sending several burning disks at Koan.
But when the dark fire user braced herself, she saw that her clothes were now on fire, and quickly vanished into the corridor of darkness to try and put it out.
"Looks like I defeated her," Sailor Mars said proudly, as Sora and his friends congratulated her on her victory.
"Maybe I should join the protection aesthetics class too, so I can become a strong and pretty girl too," said Usagi.
But Tuxedo Mask suddenly began to have another vision of the strange city.
"Suit yourself, it's really not my business what you do," he said, and walked off, but not before he mentally asked for Usagi's forgiveness.
Usagi tried to follow him, but stopped when Rei placed her hands upon her shoulders.
"The fact that he came to help you proves that he does care about you," she said.
"Do you really believe that he'd do that, even after he severed his bond with her?" Sephiroth's voice asked when he emerged in front of them.
"Sephiroth!? What are you doing here!?" cried Sailor Moon.
"Oh, that's not for you to know. But Mamoru Chiba believes that the two of you shouldn't be together. You may have loved each other once, but now he's choosing to forsake you, because he believes you are dead weight to him. I have a favor to ask you. Your beloved world will soon die. Slowly. Silently. Painfully. Can you bear to see the world you love suffer, Sailor Moon?" replied the One-Winged Angel, as he cast a convincingly powerful projection around her.
Sailor Moon looked around her and saw nothing but burning ruins around her.
"Were this world to die, so many things would be lost. Your hometown that burns so bright. The sound of their voices pleading for me to spare you. The shiver of their flesh, yielding to cold steel," continued Sephiroth.
He soon brought her back back to reality as Sailor Mars and the others glared at him.
"That which binds you together would be no more, and you would be loath to live in such a world. Which is why I must ask this one favor. Don't worry, it's a simple thing. Run Sailor Moon. Run away. Give up on Mamoru, and worry about yourself," finished the silver haired swordsman.
Sailor Moon clenched her fist, ripped off her Tiara and held it dangerously at her side.
"MY LIFE IS NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE, SEPHIROTH!" she screamed, and flung the golden discus at him.
But Sephiroth vanished, as it passed harmlessly over the shrine, and returned to her side.
"Good, Sailor Moon. Very good. Hold on to that hatred," he taunted with a menacing chuckle.
"How dare he say those things to you, Sailor Moon? If he keeps this up, I will incinerate him," Sailor Mars said with a dark cold hatred of the mad swordsman in her eyes.
"You both may not like it, but only Cloud can kill him," replied Sora.
The next day, the dojo now had a sign for Protection Jazz Dance, which made Usagi mildly disappointed.
"Aw, so you're grandpa's done with Protection aesthetics class?" she asked.
"Yeah, but now he's started something called Protection Jazz Dance," replied Rei.
Everyone watched as Lord Hino, Yuuichirou, and Chibiusa practiced inside the dojo, which did make everyone mildly displeased, and made them all cringe in disgust.