A day removed from gym class found Rei changing from her school uniform into her miko robes. She heard her grandfather speaking with someone, someone whose voice was higher, feminine. Her grandfather sounded excited, a sure sign that it was probably a pretty woman. Rei sighed, and hurried to finish changing so she could save the poor soul from her grandfather's advances. When she finished, and as she grew closer to the voices, she hurried for another reason. She recognized the other voice- Minako had come to the shrine.
Rei threw the sliding doors to the courtyard open and stomped down the stairs. The ravens who made their homes in the trees around the shrine squawked at the sudden noise. Minako and her grandfather similarly startled, and turned to face her.
"Rei, you never told me you had such a lovely friend," her grandfather said, eyebrows waggling lecherously.
"Can it," Rei said. She turned to Minako. "What are you doing here?"
"Now now, is that any way to talk to a friend, or a guest to our shrine," her grandfather said. He turned to Minako. "Why don't you two go inside, I'll make some tea and prepare some snacks."
Minako flashed a brilliant smile at him. "That sounds wonderful."
Rei sighed. She had a feeling she'd be doing a lot of that today. "Don't encourage him," she said to Minako as her grandfather ushered them inside. He sat them in one of the ceremonial rooms and bustled off to prepare a pot of tea, but not before he took one last look at Minako. Rei glared at him until he left the room.
The two girls were silent for a few long moments, Minako grinning from ear to ear and Rei with a much more grim look. Eventually Rei spoke.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from you?" she asked, managing to keep most of the sarcasm from her voice. It wouldn't do for a miko to berate a visitor, after all.
"Well, I heard about this beautiful, graceful shrine maiden, and I just had to see her for myself," Minako said. Rei took a breath. "And I gotta say, she really lives up to the hype."
Rei made a low noise from her throat, almost a growl, before covering it with a cough. Before she could respond, her grandfather returned with tea and sweets.
"I really should thank you for being friends with my Rei. I know she can be prickly at times, and putting up with her isn't always easy," he said.
"Prickly? Putting up with me?" Rei started, her voice increasing in volume as she spoke. She was cut off by Minako.
"Yes, she does get pretty surly at times. But I know that deep down, she has a warm, gooey center trying to get out."
Rei's grandfather cackled. He turned to Rei.
"I like her," he said. Rei could feel her outrage trying to bubble it's way out of her mouth. He turned back to Minako, still chuckling. "You must be looking pretty deep then."
"Don't you have something priestly to do?" Rei said sharply. She was desperate to separate the two of them, seeing how well they were getting along.
"I am doing something priestly," he said incredulously. "Helping wayward souls is the most important duty for a priest."
"More like harassing every pretty girl you see, and no, that's not very priestly."
"You wound me," her grandfather said, hand over his heart.
"Besides, she's not some wayward soul, she's just a classmate."
"Can't she be both?" he asked.
Rei decided to try a different tact. "You know, I seem to remember quite a lot of dirt on the walkways around the Shrine when I got home, but that can't be right. After all, it's a priests duty to make sure they're cleaned every day."
Her grandfather winced and laughed nervously. "It seems I just remembered something urgent I had to tend to," he said. He turned to Minako. "It was a pleasure meeting you, young lady. Please continue to look after my granddaughter."
"I'll keep a close eye on her," Minako said with a straight face. Rei stayed quiet as her grandfather got up and left the room.
The silence stretched on, Rei again with a grim look on her face, and Minako with a small smile watching her. Eventually Minako spoke,
"So, I'm pretty, huh?"
"I should have said that he hits on anything with two legs," Rei said immediately.
"That hurts, Hino. What have I ever done to you?" Minako asked under fluttering eyelashes.
Rei chose to ignore that line of questioning. "Why are you here, really?"
"Well I just can't get enough of you in school, so I figured I'd find you outside it. I asked around, and it turns out everyone knows where to find you. You have quite the fan club, Hino."
Rei had seen enough of her school's uniforms around to know that her schoolmates were aware of her position outside school. However, no one had ever talked to her about it. Leave it to Minako to be the first to try. Rei scowled.
"You found me. You saw me. You even got to harass me, so you can go now."
"Hey, I haven't even had any of my tea yet," Minako said. "Or any sweets," she added, thoughtfully picking one up and unwrapping it. She held it out to Rei, who shook her head, before popping it in her mouth.
"Now have your tea and you can be on your way," Rei said.
"Tea is meant to be savored, enjoyed quietly in good company," Minako said.
"If only I could find any, I could enjoy my own," Rei said. Minako laughed.
The blonde took a sip and let out a satisfied sigh. They sat across from each other while Minako slowly drank her tea. Rei eventually broke, and had some of her own. She wasn't sure what to make of this sudden visit, but at least Minako wasn't being annoying as she probably could have been.
She was turning into a hard person to figure out. At first the blonde had been nothing but trouble, teasing and flustering Rei incessantly. While that hadn't changed, Minako had shown she could be… a decent person, when she put her mind to it. She seemed to get along with just about everybody, and she and Serena had gone out of their way to befriend Ami. And those rare times she wasn't bothering Rei, Minako could be funny, charming even. And even when she was bothering Rei, there was no denying her quick wit.
But last class Minako had been so wound up, it had been a stark contrast to the easygoing person she thought she knew. She had even snapped at Serena, the human equivalent of an especially clumsy puppy. And now there she was, appreciating some good tea and a quiet moment. It was frustrating, trying to figure the other girl out. Rei snorted. Even when she wasn't trying to, when she was doing nothing at all, Minako still found a way to bother her. Well, if Minako wanted to come to her home, she would have to be prepared for consequences.
"Are you going to make Serena cry again?" she asked suddenly.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"You were very short with her yesterday."
"Ah, that." Minako said, looking away. "I told her it was fine."
"And tomorrow? Are you going to snap at her again?"
"Of course not," Minako said. "I'll admit, I got a little caught up in the match, but it's just a game after all."
"Is it? You were treating it more like an actual competition."
"I remember that first soccer game we played," Minako said, meeting Rei's eye. "You were definitely competing then."
"Because you pushed me there," Rei said. "Who was pushing you yesterday?"
Minako looked away again. She didn't answer.
"And even if it was a competition," Rei said, intent on pushing Minako more. "That wouldn't have helped Serena at all. You could use that tone on me, or Makoto, but not everyone responds well to that kind of 'motivation.'"
Minako looked at her again, half a smile on her face. "All this concern, it's almost like you care about me."
Rei didn't take the bait. She wouldn't let Minako control the conversation. Minako sighed.
"It's a bad habit I have, I know. I'll be fine tomorrow, so you don't have to worry so much."
"I'm not worried. I just find it interesting that you care so much about winning, but couldn't recognize you almost cost us the game. If you had laughed Serena's first miss off, she would have been more relaxed, and probably would have made her second."
"You're right, you're right," Minako said.
"I often am," Rei said, glad she had successfully caught Minako off guard.
"You know, you get more interesting every time I talk to you," Minako said.
"What?"
"I didn't think you'd be bothered by- well, by anything I did that wasn't directed at you. But there you are, telling me off for being too competitive."
Rei froze. She didn't like how closely Minako's words mirrored her thoughts about the blonde. Minako took one last drink from her cup and stood.
"I guess I can get out of your hair now," she said. Rei stood too, to show her guest out. Together they made their way to the long staircase to the shrine. Minako stopped at the top step, and turned back towards Rei.
"I'm glad I came over today. Maybe I'll come back again," she said.
"Don't."
Minako laughed. "There's the Rei I'm used to," she said.
"And don't use my name," Rei said.
"Sorry, I'm think I'm just happy you're paying so much attention to me."
Rei tried to form a response but nothing came to mind. Her mouth opened and closed uselessly a couple times.
"See you at school, Rei-ko," Minako said as she started down the stairs.
"What did I just say?" Rei yelled after her.
"Nicknames don't count!" Minako yelled as she started laughing and running.
Rei groaned and returned to the shrine. That visit had left her with more to think about than she cared for, but the worst thing was that Minako was right- she was paying a lot of attention to that blonde-haired menace.
