Chapter Twelve: Dreaming Maidens
It's really hard to write these romance-related chapters. I have problems writing romance scenes for some odd reason. So forgive me if these chapters suck!
After unknowingly receiving the cursed kiss, Reiko spent nearly every waking moment thinking about or talking about Souji. Even when she was sitting in class, her thoughts were purely on him. The people around her were becoming increasingly sicker of hearing about nothing but some boy, so they started avoiding her. Even sweet little Chizuru, who would never say a mean word about anyone, started to call Reiko boy-crazy behind her back. The person most affected by this sudden change in Reiko, though, was Keiko, who was forced to listen to Souji-talk during the walks to and from school, plus during time at home. Keiko was reaching the end of her rope, but keeping it to herself because she loved Reiko in a way that Souji couldn't dream of providing—the bond between twin sisters that can never be broken.
Reiko started spending inordinate amounts of time with Souji, usually at his house where his parents never seemed to be around. He had video games that they would play together and he would help her with her homework because she was usually too busy daydreaming during class to absorb the new concepts. They would laze away watching TV or movies, though sometimes they would go out and explore a different area of Tokyo by throwing a dart at a map of the subway system to find out where they should go. Reiko was usually coming home around 7, 8, or 9 PM, hungry for dinner and ready to talk about her day. As mentioned before, Keiko was growing more frustrated with her sister's actions by the day, so she would complain to Rei about the situation. Rei, however, saw the relationship as cute and allowed Reiko to be with Souji every day because she saw no decrease in her grades.
The cursed kiss was affecting Reiko in that it took her lively, youthful energy and diverted it all to Souji, in heart, mind, and body. Souji was teaching her things she had never heard of before, due to her experience (or, actually, inexperience) at everything related to romantic relationships. Her pure heart, however, began to fight back against the influence of the cursed kiss so that she could no longer focus solely on Souji and making him happy, no matter what. She especially found herself no longer able to do whatever Souji wanted her to do, which upset him deeply.
Keiko didn't have the heart to tell Reiko that the reason her pure heart was fighting back was because Keiko started praying, at least half an hour every day, for Reiko to snap out of this trance she was in.
"I feel bad for not telling her," Keiko lamented to Sayaka, who came over at her request because she was feeling lonely as usual. "But this obsession with Souji makes my blood boil! Reiko deserves better than that stupid Souji!" She sighed and popped a potato chip into her mouth.
"Tell me about it. The only time I ever saw someone go crazier for a boy was when Natsumi fell for that boy last year. What's his name? I forgot it." Sayaka shrugged and ate another potato chip.
"So did I." Keiko sighed. "Not only have I been praying for her every day, but I've been having bad visions every so often."
"Bad visions? Did you tell your mom about them?" Sayaka demanded.
"N-no. She's on Reiko's side. Sayaka, this Souji boy is turning the members of the Hino house against each other, but I am outnumbered," Keiko said sadly.
"Tell me about the visions," Sayaka commanded.
"I will. I keep seeing pink eyes."
"Pink eyes? Like, the colored part of the eyes is pink, or someone who is sick with pink eye?" Sayaka asked, pointing to her eyes whenever she said 'eye' or 'eyes'.
"The colored part is pink," Keiko said with a slight nod.
"So, do you see anything other than pink eyes?" Sayaka asked.
"Sometimes. When Reiko comes home at night and I see her, I occasionally see a mark shaped like a pair of lips on her forehead. But maybe I'm just going crazy." Keiko shrugged.
"Keiko, this is bad! You need to tell your mom. You may even need to tell Reiko!"
"No! I can't tell Reiko! She'll never talk to me again!" Keiko screamed. "I don't want to lose that!" Pushed over the edge, Keiko began to cry. Sayaka rubbed her back while she cried, allowing her to keep crying until she was ready to stop.
"Tell you what. If you don't feel like you can tell your mom, why don't you tell my mom? She's receptive and maybe she'll relay the information along to the particular channels that need to hear it," Sayaka suggested. "Plus, you can have a free piece of cake."
"You know I can't resist the prospect cake," Keiko said, sniveling. "Take me to the bakery."
One short train ride later, Keiko's nose was full of the pleasant smells at Sakamoto Bakery. Sayaka was in the back, finding a suitable piece of cake for Keiko to eat, while Keiko sat at a secluded table with Makoto. Makoto was sipping a cup of mango tea and nibbling on a piece of strawberry shortcake when Sayaka brought a piece of Chocolate Death cake for Keiko to eat.
"Oh, my favorite!" Keiko chirped, happily digging in. Sayaka pulled up a chair.
"So, Sayaka said you wanted to talk to me about something," Makoto began. "Speak your mind, Keiko. Nothing is taboo." Keiko always liked talking to Makoto—she never let her emotions get the best of her and never took sides in any argument. Sayaka always said that Makoto having to grow up alone humbled her.
"Well, Reiko has been seeing this boy Souji lately and she's spending all her time with him," Keiko began. "She just comes home at night after a day spent with him, eats dinner, and goes into her room to talk to him on the phone."
"Ah, she's gone boy-crazy, then?" Makoto suggested, sipping her tea.
"You could say," Keiko replied, nodding fervently because her real answer was yes but she didn't want to seem impolite. "But I've been getting these visions lately and they concern her."
"They're very important," Sayaka cut in.
"I get visions of this mark on her forehead that drains her energy and of these freaky pink eyes, but I don't know if I feel like I can tell Reiko about this because I think she'll get mad at me if I do." Keiko munched away on her cake. "This is great, Sayarin."
"Thanks, Kechan," Sayaka replied, beaming.
"Pink eyes? Energy-draining marks?" Makoto repeated to make sure she understood.
"Yes," Keiko said, nodding.
"It sounds evil to me," Makoto said. "That's just my opinion."
"I think so, too!" Keiko exclaimed. "Someone who agrees with me!"
"I think I might tell Rei about this myself. Please don't lose sleep over this or anything, Keiko. This, too, shall pass."
Keiko lay in bed that night, dreaming innocently, when she saw those pink eyes again. In her dream, she was in an area of naught but purple clouds, out of which the pink eyes materialized, attached to Astarte's senshi-outfit-clad body.
"Who are you?" Dream-Keiko demanded.
"You will find out soon enough," Astarte answered.
"That's not an answer!" Dream-Keiko roared. "Do you have something to do with my sister Reiko?"
"Reiko," Astarte said, enunciating each syllable slowly. "My human form has, how shall I put it? He has thoroughly explored Reiko and all she has to offer." She laughed wildly.
"What?" Dream-Keiko asked, shocked. "Reiko…has?"
"I will let you figure that out for yourself, naïve one," Astarte declared. "However, tomorrow it shall not matter! Tomorrow, the pot will bubble over and I shall have no more use for Reiko. I shall be strong enough to arise!" She swept her hand over herself with mysteriously elegant flair. Dream-Keiko remained silent, hoping to learn more. "What are you doing here? It's time for you to wake up, dreaming one." Astarte grinned maliciously and gleefully shoved Dream-Keiko, which caused her to wake up.
Keiko shot up in her bed, panting for air and sweating, but able to remember every single detail of her dream. She wrote them all down on a nearby piece of paper in case her memory failed her and attempted to go back to sleep, a nigh-impossible task at the time. Resigning to defeat, she stumbled out of her room and down the darkened hallway to the living room, where she could watch some mindless TV and hope to fall asleep again. However, the news that the mysterious pink-eyed woman delivered to her regarding Reiko made her uneasy and caused her to cry into a pillow, lamenting the loss of Reiko's innocence.