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Chapter 8: Fear
The kiss was soft though too brief for both girls as they instantly regretted pulling away, each searching the others eyes carefully. For Rei that kiss held everything she wanted and more. A kiss like that held century's worth of promises and love, of many fights and many nights spent making up said fights. It promised her everything she was afraid of. Since the passing of her mother, the youngest Hino had allowed no one inside the walls of her heart, yet somehow Mina forced her way in…without Rei's consent. Beginning something with the bouncing blonde in front of her would surly lead her to heart break sooner or later.
'Don't be a coward..' the sentence rang out within Rei's mind like a clap of thunder; loud and direct though she couldn't stop from backing away from Minako, her eyes widened and though her facial expression revealed nothing; one who only need to look in Rei's eyes to find her emotions. Love, anxiety, wariness…though the one that overpowered them all was fear. For if she outwardly gave her heart to the Venusian in front of her, the raven knew she would be consumed by that love and indeed taint that of which she found to be pure; Minako.
What started out as a small movement became a vigorous shaking of her head as Rei made to stand yet a strong hang caught her wrist before she could flee. "W-We can't" she stammered, her façade crumbling while the mask of indifferent slipped from Rei's face.
Minako spent the next few moments watching the swirling pool of emotions clouding her love's eyes, wondering which would win out in the end, though it took no time for her to receive her answer as she watched the miko spook as if she were a horse. Mina could practically feel the waves of restlessness and uncertainly rolling from Rei's demeanor. It took her a split second to see the reaction, and had it not been for her senshi speed and training Rei would have gotten away. Pulling herself to her feet quickly, the golden sailor of Venus released her second in commands wrist. "Tell me you don't have feelings for me." She demanded. No, Rei wasn't leaving without a fight. If she was going to run away from this…this thing that seemed bigger than both of them, she would have to break Minako's heart before departing.
For every step Mina took forward the raven took back until her broad shoulders bumped into the wall behind her, immediately realizing her mistake. Rei felt as if her heart would simply beat out her chest and walk out of the door at this rate. She needed space, her own air to breath and more so than anything, time. "Mina... I-" she whispered quietly as her commander addressed her once more. Wild lilac eyes looked over every feature of Minako's face, burning this image of furiously into her mind forever. Slamming her fist into the wall next to Rei's head, it was her turn to be the short-tempered one. She'd waited too long for this for Rei to decide she was scared. "Tell me! Tell me you don't care for me. Tell me that you felt nothing in that kiss and I'll leave." She would fight and fight and fight if that's what it took for Rei to understand her feelings. This wasn't a game for her, this wasn't her usual conquest. For everyone was just a sad replacement to the shaking girl standing in front of her. To Minako, no one could compare to Rei, or even come close. A soft sigh escaped the blonde's lips as she lowered her arm, a sadness beginning to seep into her azure blue eyes, eyes that held nothing but love for the fire senshi. In a soft whisper she stepped closer to Rei, invading her personal space and leaving a little less than an inch of room between them. Peering up into those violet eyes she loved so dearly, she spoke once more. "Tell me you don't love me..."
Rei Hino, for once in her life…was at a loss for words. Not the first coherent thought sprang from her mouth and the room began to fill with a heavy silence. Minako's fist connecting with the wall beside her made the raven flinch, which was again, uncharacteristic for the young senshi. Nothing scared Rei Hino, Sailor Senshi of Mars. No monster, no person…nothing. That was until Minako Aino plowed her way into the miko's life. Her shoulders shook every-so-slightly and dare she admit she was afraid. She was afraid of giving herself to someone so completely. For she'd loved Minako it seems even before they met. A love that she could only find one word to define; ancient. Though true that Rei easily kept her weaknesses buried deep within the confidents of her indifference and sarcasm, it was only to hide the blunt truth from herself. She was fragile, her heart was made of glass and if handled in the slightly of wrong ways…would crumble into millions of pieces. "I don't..."
She muttered, ebony bangs shielding her eyes from Mina's probing gaze. Louder she repeated herself, as if to convince herself more than Minako. "I don't. You're mistaken. It was a mistake." Though she denied her feeling, she never fully finished the statement. She could never say she didn't love Minako, even thinking the words let a bitter taste in her mouth, so she settled for the easiest way out, hurting Mina to protect herself.
Desperate blue eyes waited for something, anything the miko would say to her and though she could the faintest hint of speech, it was too low for her to hear. "What?" she asked though once repeated she'd begged Aphrodite to take it back. Taking a step back, Minako nodded her head silently before turning and true to her words, she left. This wasn't it though. This was just merely a battle, the first of many it would appear, but the war was not lost, not by a long shot. She knew the raven was lying. Rei could tell her all day that she didn't love Minako, but at the end of it all she couldn't remove the love in her amethyst orbs. Though Mina only made it a few steps down the hall before her knees gave way, her back sliding down the wall as tears threatened to spill over yet she wouldn't allow them to. Unbeknownst to the golden blonde, her ravenous counterpart had done the exact same thing, exhausted from the use of so many foreign emotions that her tears did flow freely with every blink of her eyes, each girl knowing the coming weeks would be miserably impossible to get through.