Rei fell almost flat-faced on the stone floor, her quick reflexes saving her from splatting on the concrete. Her hands hurt as they broke her fall. As she got up, she immediately noted the different surroundings.
What is this place?
She looked around. It was a bedroom. Definitely not hers. It was made of stone, with a neatly arranged bed of white linen. Simply furnished but indicated well that it had a masculine occupant. She turned around and saw a full length mirror. She touched it. It seemed to be the place where she came from. The last thing she remembered was thunder, then lightning, and as she had touched the mirror in her bedroom, she saw a quick flash of light before seemingly falling into a bottomless pit. It felt as though she was being pulled through a black hole in space before she fell with uncontrollable speed to the spot she was currently standing on.
Rei approached the window and took a peek outside. Her eyes widened upon the vision that greeted her. The place was full of men! Donned in long-sleeved shirts and coats with their hair in a bun on top of their heads. Horses walked about the area, with a couple of little kids running around. Her attention was immediately caught be a tall figure with flaming hair. He was accompanied by a slightly taller man with blue hair and dark skin. They were dressed in the same outfit as the others and talking as they strolled.
And they were headed her way!
Rei quickly scanned the area to find a place to hide. They musn't see her here! She wasn't quite ready to tell them she came through a two-dimensional mirror! She immediately ran to what seemed to be another door and slid thorugh it. She squeezed herself through an array of coats, shirts and pants in what obviously was a walk-in-closet.
"And for a while I thought he had given up his ambitious delusions." she heard one of the men say as the door to the quarters opened.
"I'm rather surprised too." the other one said. "After being ousted, I didn't think he'd still want to come back to Mt. Reikaku."
"He really wants to take over." Tasuki shook his head. "How long has it been? Four years? I thought that &$^% took up hermitdom and disappeared for good." He took off his soiled white shirt and threw it in a basket. He proceeded to the closet.
"That Enki...such a troublemaker." Koji remarked as he sat on Tasuki's bed.
Rei held her breath as the closet door opened. The hand that entered was a hair's breadth of touching her face. It fumbled clumsily for one of the white shrits on the hanger. Rei slipped off one of the tees and handed it to the invading arm. The owner was commenting on the "Enki" fellow and had obviously not noted the presence in the closet. Rei held her breath for as long as she could and only took a sigh of relief when the closet door closed.
She peered through the narrow closet opening and watched as the red-haired one put his shirt on. Hmmm...nice body, she smiled inwardly, stifling a giggle. Now, now, Rei, control yourself, she lectured as she tried to focus on what the two men were talking about rather than how strangely eye-catching the flame-haired one was.
They spoke about the "Enki" fellow and from what Rei gathered, he was quite an ambitious one, wanting to take over the reins of Mt. Reikaku from whoever the leader was. She noted that the red-haired bandit was akin to cursing...*a lot.*Potty-mouthed man that he was. Her eavesdropping didn't last for long though, as the two men lowered their voices and exited the bedroom.
Rei quietly sneaked out of the closet a few minutes after they left. She tiptoed towards the mirror and faced it. She touched it, hoping to find a possible gateway back to her world.
Where is it? she thought irritably as she searched the full length looking glass. She ran her fingers across, searching. When it didn't work, she took out an ofuda scroll and closed her eyes to concentrate. Show me the way out, she commanded, moving her scroll back and forth and across the mirror to find her way. Search for a clue, any clue, that may point the way out.
Rei stood there for over an hour, and found nothing. Darn, she said to herself. Now how the heck am I going to get back home?
She then remembered how she got here in the first place...and more importantly, why she was here. She was here to help out the red-haired fangboy she saw in her mirror before he gets killed by this person whose name now became clear to her...Enki. But remembering how he appeared, this guy didn't look like he needed help from anyone...or would want to be helped either. He looked strong and stubborn. And from the way Enki sounded, it seems as though, he was the one who was going to need the help if the red-haired one gets his hands on him.
But her vision....
Rei's head turned when she heard the door opening again. She was standing halfway across the room from the closet door and knew that even if she dashed for it, the person at the door will be bound to see her before she got to the closet. Instead she went to an open window, and seeing the coast was clear, jumped right out of it.
She found herself in a backyard with several clotheslines. Deciding she should blend in the crowd, she borrowed a long, black, gold-trimmed coat and put it over her clothes. She tied her hair in a bun using a belt left to dry, and put it atop her head. Rei thought she should mingle along while looking for her way back to Hikawa Jinja, as the atmosphere didn't seem to friendly should she pop up in her miko robes asking for the way back to Tokyo. She had already taken several steps away and was whistling a tune when she felt something sharp on her neck.
"Baka...didn't you think we'd find you?" a voice from behind her said. Rei felt the cold blade of a kodachi on her neck and recognized the voice to belong to one of the men who had previously entered the bedroom. "Hiding in the closet isn't a very innovative way to spy now, is it?" he remarked slyly, "Turn around."
Rei had secretly drawn an ofuda scroll from her sleeves and when she turned about, she quickly slapped it on the forehead of an unsuspecting Koji. She had evaded the blade of the kodachi by less than an inch and ducked to kick Koji in the shin. The blue-haired bandit bent over in pain as Rei dashed towards the thick forest. The scuffle drew attention quick and the next thing Rei knew, she was being chased by a dozen Mt. Reikaku bandits.
Thankfully, she was quick on her feet and she lost the majority of them through the forest. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. And yet they seemd to be closing in somehow. Rei put on her brakes as she reached a cliff's edge, stopping just in time to prevent herself from falling the hundred foot drop to the rocks below. They're coming on in fast, she thought. There isn't much choice left. She drew her honshin stick in a blink of an eye.
"Mars Star Power, Make up!"
Tasuki was struck speechless when he saw their prey throw off her disguise (which were his robes, by the way ^_^) and was surrounded by bright rings of fire. Being the fastest on his feet, he had gotten to the cliff's edge way ahead of the others and was the lone witness to her transformation. He watched in a momentary bewilderment as her priestess robes were replaced by a strange-looking outfit in red and white. Her hair had fallen off the bun and spread like a black waterfall on her back. Her eyes, violet, had radiated a different kind of fire he had never seen in his lifetime.
"Bishoujo!!!!" one of his men nosebled as the bandits arrived by the handful. Tasuki struck the starry-eyed bandit with his tessen. Only then that he noted the rest of them were drooling too.
"BAAAKKAAAA!!!!" he screamed at them, knocking their head with the tessen. "That's Enki's emissary. get her!" he commanded. As though they had some sense knocked into them, the bandits slowly approached Rei, who was now in her fuku, to capture her.
"Fire...Stoooorrmmm!!!" she put her fingers together and released a blaze of heat towards the bewildered bandits. Acting quickly, Tasuki called out.
"Lekka shineeeen!!!" he cried, surrounding him and the few men close to him with a protective shield of fire to hold up against the raven-haired senshi's blast. And as strongly as his fire shielded them, a few unlucky bandits had their clothes caught by the flame, sending them running towards a nearby creek.
Sailor Mars' brows raised upon seeing the fire from the tessen, then recalling the vision The Great Fire had shown her. So it was true...he did control fire too, using his iron fan.
So Enki's spy had powers...Tasuki thought. He pointed his tessen towards Rei. "Surrender now, girlie." he threatened. "You may look strong but there's only one of you and there's a whole army of us."
"Sailor Mars surrenders to no one." she declared bravely. "I'll take all of you down if it kills me." she glared at them menacingly. "And do not call me girlie."
Tasuki smirked. She was a fiesty little thing. A far cry from a whole lot of helpless little females he had run into once too often. He admired her guts for wanting to fight all of them. "Look here, girlie." he said. "We don't want any harm to come to you, so give up now. Just tell us what Enki wants and we'll send you back to your little foreign village."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rei's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I don't know anyone named Enki, in this lifetime or the previous one!"
Koji, who had appeared beside Genrou spoke up. "Don't lie to us. We know you were eavesdropping in Genrou's bedroom. And you bear different clothes. So come on over and surrender quietly. Otherwise we'd make you."
"I am not a spy!" Sailor Mars said defensively, now realizing what they meant. The two men had thought she was listening in on them in behalf of the Enki fellow. She changed her stance into a less defensive one but kept her guard up. "I came into this place by accident. I have no intention of spying on anyone or anything. I just want to find a way back to where I came from, that's all."
Tasuki eyed her suspiciously, taking her words in. Could it be that she was telling the truth? That she was not Enki's spy and had only come here by mistake? After a moment of pondering, he put his tessen down and took a couple of steps towards Rei.
"Genrou! Stop! She's dangerous..." Koji called, but his friend wasn't listening as he went forward stopping a mere foot in front of Rei.
He looked straight into her dark violet eyes, penetrating through their depths with his own golden stare. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" he challenged, a corner of his mouth lifting, baring his fangs.
Rei raised a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. "If I were from the enemy camp, you wouldn't get this near without me trying to assasinate you, don't you think?" It was her turn to smirk.
Tasuki smiled.
An hour later, Rei found herself on a table in the Mt. Reikaku stronghold. Koji had ordered a small feast as a sort of apology for their mistake. In turn, Rei apologized to the bandits whose clothes had been charred by her fiery attack. As a treaty had been exchanged, Rei accepted the invitation of the bandits to their stronghold for lunch. Which was rightfully so, as she did feel a little hungry.
"My wife is a wonderful cook." Koji beamed proudly as Mitsuko served a steaming bowl of noodles in front of Rei. "This is her specialty."
"Arigatou gozaimase." Rei told the pretty, chestnut-haired young woman. "This smells good." Rei took a sip of the warm broth. "Tastes good too."
"You're welcome." Mitsuko said. "It's the least we can do, after these two lunkheads attempted to send you off to Kingdom Come."
"You make us sound like cold-hearted killers, Mitsuko-san!" Tasuki took his place opposite husband and wife, beside Rei. "We thought this girlie here was Enki's lookout."
Rei glared at Genrou through narrowed eyes. "I have a name...and it's nowhere near girlie." she corrected.
"Whatever...girlie..." Genrou snickered as Mitsuko shot darts at him. She turned to the fire senshi.
"Gomen ne, what is your name?" the young woman asked.
"Rei. Hino Rei." the fire senshi replied.
"Spirit of fire..." Koji commented. "It suits you...after seeing that fire blast, ne Genrou?" he turned to his friend.
"I still think Girlie is a better terminology...oooofff!" Genrou choked as Rei elbowed him on his abdomen. "What the &#$@ was that for!!?" he screamed as his face contorted in pain.
"Rei. R-E-I. Not girlie. Rei." Rei stressed.
Had it not been for Genrou's deathglare, Koji and Mitsuko would've burst out laughing.
"Otou-san...." a tiny voice appeared from the doorway which opened, revealing a button-nosed chibi version of Koji. His green eyes (inherited from his mother), turned wide at the sight of the stranger on the table. He politely bowed his head, "Gomen, ne...I did not know we had a guest. Konnichi-wa..."
The scowl on Rei's face had turned into a brilliant smile. "Konnichi-wa." she bowed in return. "How kawaii...come here." She ruffled the boy's hair when he came near her. "And what's your name?"
"I am Ryobe-chan..." he introduced himself, smiling.
"What nice name, Ryobe-chan. You can call me Rei-san." she motioned toward's Tasuki's chair. "Would you like to have a seat, young sir?" she offered.
"In case you forgot, I'm still sitting here, Girlie." Tasuki interrupted.
Rei smirked. "I thought the leader of the Mt. Reikaku bandits was gentlemanly enough to let a little boy have his seat?"
Tasuki muttered a multitude of curses under his breath but before he could stand up, Ryobe had happily climbed the chair and planted himself on Genrou's lap.
"Ryobe-chan, you know it's not polite to sit on somebody's lap when they hadn't asked you to." Mitsuko reminded.
"That's okay, Mitsuko-san." Tasuki smiled at the little boy, "Ryobe can sit on my lap any time he wants." he offered his share of the soba to Ryobe who was only too happy to demolish it.
Rei found herself staring at the tender image of Genrou and Koji's son as the former reminded the latter not to eat too fast. They looked adorable, like father and son. Despite herself, Rei found her heart warming over at the sight.
"Somehow I find it hard to believe you came through a mirror." Genrou remarked later on as he examined the mirror in his bedroom. Rei stood a few feet away from him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Still think I'm Enki's spy, don't you?" she retorted.
Tasuki shrugged. "These days you can't be too careful." he remarked. They had been searching through the mirror for the past hour and they couldn't find a trace of a passageway from here back to Hikawa Jinja.
Rei took a seat on the edge of Tasuki's bed. "Oi! Private property!!!!" the red-haired bandit protested upon seeing her there.
"Well excuuuse me, oh mighty Genrou-sama." Rei replied sarcastically. "I didn't mean to sit on your precious bed." she stood up and walked away.
"Alright...alright..." Genrou snarled. "You can sit anywhere you want to." he said begrudgingly. He didn't add that she was the first female to ever set foot in his personal quarters and sit on his bed. Rei smiled impishly and returned to the bed.
"Who is this Enki fellow anyway?" she asked casually.
Tasuki went into a full account of Enki's ambitous attempts of taking over the Mt. Reiikaku leadership and how it had been foiled with the help of a lovestruck Suzaku no Miko who had summoned her man through Genrou's ofuda scrolls. Enki had been exiled then, in oppose to being executed, and had not been heard of since. It was only of late when one of Genrou's emissaries had seen Enki around town, apparently with a new gang of mercenaries and had openly expressed his want to return to Mt. Reikaku and take over the bandit stronghold.
"Of course they are only $%#@=? rumors." Tasuki shrugged. "No one knows for sure. In any case, we'll be more than ready for them." he added, slamming his fist into his palm, a determined look on his face.
Rei sat still. She wondered about her vision of a bloodied Tasuki being stepped on by a devilish Enki. Should I tell him? she thought. Would he believe me?
"I can't find anything here." Tasuki sighed, looking over the mirror. "How in the @#$@#& world did you pass through this?"
"If I had any idea, I wouldn't be stuck here thinking how to get home, would I now?" she replied irritably. She approached the mirror and touched it. If only I knew how...to get home...she thought.
Tasuki stood up from his crouching position and straightened his outfit. "Hrmmmph...if we can't find any doorways here, I may know someone who can..."
Rei raised a brow at him. "And who would that be?"
"Come with me." Genrou instructed as Rei followed him outside.