Chapter Three: Unbelievable New Discoveries
Reiko and Keiko rushed home to the Hikawa Shrine, panting for air after climbing the hill it was positioned on, but undeterred from their mission to tell Rei about the weird things that were happening to them. They searched throughout the entire shrine and found Rei in her bedroom, brushing out her hair as she read the newspaper.
"Mom," Reiko and Keiko said in unison, grabbing Rei's attention immediately.
"Mom, something is happening to us," Reiko said gravely, making Rei throw her brush aside in shock.
"What is it, honey? Honies?" Rei asked frantically.
"Do you want to show her, Keiko?" Reiko asked Keiko, who nodded. In the next moment, the twins cupped their hands as if to receive candy, concentrated deeply, and two balls of fire were created within the cupped hands. Rei observed this with her interest piqued and seemed delighted when her twins were able to produce fire from within their hands.
"Ami was right!" Rei exclaimed immediately, clapping her hands together in joy. "Oh, am I glad I saved this!" She leapt from her bed and rushed over to a safe that was tucked away in the corner of the room. It was fireproof and contained what Rei thought were the most valuable things: birth certificates, passports, deeds to the shrine, and a pink stick, about half a foot long, with a red orb at the top flanked by two gold wings.
"What is that, a toy?" Keiko asked.
"No, honey. It's something much better. I wonder if it will still work for me." Rei clasped it tightly in her hands and sighed as she remembered the times she used to have as Sailor Mars. "Here goes nothing! Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!" She held the stick up high, but nothing happened. Reiko and Keiko were too confused to laugh. "It won't work for me anymore. You girls may not believe me, but I have magical powers." Keiko giggled. "It's true! I used to fight crime along with Usagi and the others. That's how we met. Ask any of them and they'll tell you the same story." She paused to think. "Why don't you girls take a hold of this stick and say whatever comes to you first. Okay?"
"Mom, have you finally lost your mind?" Reiko asked.
"I mean, we've seen it coming, but still," Keiko added, grinning.
"Come on, girls, just try it for me. Please?" Rei begged.
"Okay, but only because we hate to hear your begging voice," Reiko replied. She and Keiko each took hold of the stick, which suddenly glowed and turned into a red stick with a white orb that had a red crescent moon carved into it. This new development delighted Rei even more. The girls kept holding on to this stick until the right words finally came to their tongues and they shouted them in unison.
"Phobos and Deimos Satellite Power, Make Up!" they shouted, holding the stick aloft. Rings of magical fire shot forth from the stick and enveloped the girls, changing their clothes from head to toe in a transformation that only took a second or two and made Rei cry tears of reminiscence.
Reiko and Keiko were now dressed in outfits much like the ones their mother wore as Sailor Mars. There were a few subtle differences, though—their collars and bows were red with white ovals in the middle of their bows, their gloves were white with red cuffs, their skirts were red with white hemlines, and they both wore red high-heeled shoes and red earrings adorned with the same crescent moons as on their transformation stick.
"I have to call everyone," Rei said, excusing herself. "Go out into the private garden, pick up some hay from the back farm, and practice whatever you need to out there. Oh, everyone is going to be so happy to hear this!" She leapt into the air and dashed for the phone.
"You look good," Reiko said to Keiko.
"You too," Keiko said to Reiko. "Let's go burn stuff."
"Okay." Reiko and Keiko went off into the private garden.
Rei's hands were shaking when she picked up the phone and she didn't know who she should call first. She decided to call Ami first to tell her that her theory was correct. So, she opened up her phone book and searched out Ami, who had a few different numbers to choose from. Rei knew Ami wouldn't be home, so she selected the cell phone number and hurriedly dialed it. Unfortunately, Ami was away from her station and forgot to take her phone with her, so it just rang before switching over to voicemail.
"Hello, this is Ami Mizuno. Please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can," Ami's voice said cheerfully, followed by a mechanical beep. Rei took a deep breath and started to talk.
"Ami, it's Rei. Reiko and Keiko just got home from school and, oh, they did the most amazing thing! They showed me that they can create fire, so I gave them my old transformation stick just for laughs and they transformed! Yes, they transformed! They're out back right now practicing their powers, but I just thought I'd let you know that your hypothesis was correct. You should ask Suzumi if anything's happening to her. She might just surprise you! Talk to you later, I have to call everyone else now." Rei hung up, flipped to Makoto's page, and dialed up the number to the Sakamoto Bakery over in Shibuya.
"Sakamoto Bakery, Makoto speaking. How may I help you?" Makoto answered with the canned greeting that was written next to the phone.
"Mako, it's Rei. I have news for you about Reiko and Keiko that could affect Sayaka," Rei began.
"Hold on." Makoto moved the phone away from her mouth. "Toshiya, take care of these customers, will you?" She brought the phone back to her mouth. "I'm going into the back room, so you better tell me what's up."
"Gladly so," Rei said. "You know how Ami was saying that our girls might have powers? Well, Reiko and Keiko do." Makoto gasped.
"You're kidding," she insisted.
"I swear I'm not. They both came up to me today and showed me that they could create fire, so I let them hold my old transformation stick and they transformed! Oh, Makoto, they look so adorable. They're out in the garden right now setting stacks of hay on fire. Oh, happy day! If only their lousy father could see them now." Rei giggled maliciously.
"Whatever became of Yuuichirou after he left, anyway?" Makoto asked.
"Hell if I know. I think some of his buddies have a band now and they're on tour or something. I think he knows that if he comes back, he'll have to pay up on the child support." Rei paused. "Mako, did you keep your old transformation stick?"
"I did."
"Give it to Sayaka and tell her to say whatever feels right. My girls knew exactly what phrase to shout! It just came to them!" Rei bragged.
"I think I will give it to Sayaka. Do you think I should tell Toshiya about this?" Makoto asked.
"No," Rei answered. "If he sees anything, just say that they're trying on costumes for a school play or something. And if he sees them using their powers…I'll pray for him."
"I'll talk to Sayaka as soon as I get off work. Thanks for the heads-up, Rei. 'Bye!"
Rei sighed and decided to get a drink of water before calling Usagi, Minako, and Michiru. She shuffled into the kitchen, picked up a bottle of water from within the refrigerator, and took a sip as she thought about Yuuichirou the deadbeat dad. The two had such a good relationship that even Usagi and Mamoru, the definition of a good relationship, were taking notes. As soon as Rei announced she was pregnant with twins, though, Yuuichirou took that opportunity to disappear from her life. Reiko and Keiko have never met their father to this day.
She called Minako next because Minako was good at cheering people up. Minako had a secret cell phone number that she only gave to her closest friends because she didn't want calls from fans to clog up all of her phones and this was the number Rei dialed.
"Hello?" Minako asked after the second ring.
"Minako, hi, it's Rei. Guess what?" Rei asked, tracing the outline of the water bottle with her finger.
"What?" Minako asked.
"Ami was totally right! Reiko and Keiko have powers!"
"Oh my God! That is so cool! I should ask Natsumi if she has any."
"Sure, ask her. Give her your old transformation stick, too. I couldn't use mine, but Reiko and Keiko could. They knew exactly what to say, too, so I'm sure Natsumi will."
"I'm going to go get my stick now! Thanks for telling me, Rei!" Minako hung up and Rei imagined her running around her Juuban penthouse, searching for her stick beneath the chaos she called "organizing". Rei took another drink and called up Michiru.
"Hello?" Haruka answered.
"Haruka! It's Rei. I have some good news. You might want to call Michiru into the room."
"What? Is Yuuichirou back? Are you pregnant again? Are Reiko and Keiko top of their class?" Haruka asked in rapid-fire succession.
"No, no, and no, but it is about Reiko and Keiko," Rei said. "It pertains to what Ami was saying today."
"Hold on, let me go find her." Haruka put the phone down, but Rei could still hear her shout for Michiru, who was currently talking in raised voices to Aiko.
"You were skipping class? Aiko, you can't do this! Honey, if you keep skipping class you might not be able to get into Juuban High with the rest of your friends! Do you want to be separated from your friends?" Michiru shouted. She heard Haruka call for her and put her shouting on hold to get the phone.
"Here she is," Haruka told Rei before Michiru got the phone.
"Hello," Michiru said. "Aiko got in trouble today so I had to yell at her. What's up?"
"It's about our kids. Reiko and Keiko have powers!" Rei squealed, making Michiru gasp. "I gave them my old stick and they used it! They're senshi now!"
"Oh my God, you're kidding, aren't you?" Michiru asked.
"No, I'm not. I can see them burning stacks of hay outside." Rei craned her neck to look outside. "Yep, they're still doing it."
"So you think Aiko might have powers, too?" Michiru asked quietly.
"Powers of what?" Aiko asked in the background.
"The power to mind your own business, Aiko!" Haruka said. "Go downstairs and fix up a snack or something."
"Do you think Aiko's powers might be…" Michiru paused, presumably to see that Aiko was gone. "Double?"
"Why so?" Rei blurted out before she remembered why.
"Because of, you know, Seiya?" Michiru suggested. It was well-known among the group that Haruka and Michiru desperately wanted a child as soon as the others started to get pregnant, but there was just one problem that was quickly solved by having Seiya, well, contribute what he could (with Haruka's blessing, of course).
"They could be!" Rei exclaimed. "Ask Aiko if anything weird has been happening to her and give her your transformation stick. Reiko and Keiko knew what to do with mine right away. I couldn't use mine though. I guess the senshi days are over for me."
"I don't think I could fit into my senshi outfit anymore," Michiru joked. "But I'll do it. Thanks for the call, Rei."
Rei was almost done with her calls, so she called up Usagi.
"Hello?" Usagi asked into the phone, sounding slightly angry.
"Usagi, it's Rei. Guess what? Reiko and Keiko have powers! Just like Ami said today!" She heard Usagi drop something loud and metallic. "What was that?"
"A pan," Usagi answered casually. "IT HIT MY FOOT! OWWWW!" she cried out. "Oh, it hurts!"
"What's wrong, Mom?" Sakura asked in the background.
"Nothing, honey, I just made a dumb mistake," Usagi explained. "Ow," she said to Rei.
"Still clumsy after all these years," Rei joked. "Anyway, I gave the twins my stick and they knew just how to use it. I suggest you do the same with Sakura."
"Okay, Rei. I will." Usagi paused to say "ow" again. "I'll talk to you later."
"Put some ice on that foot!" Rei suggested as Usagi hung up.