Shrine 3

That weekend the group had plans to study at Rei's shrine again. The prospect of tests for every subject served to motivate even Serena and Minako. Their previous study session had been surprisingly serious; though Rei's point of view might have been skewed by other factors.

Rei didn't tell her grandfather she was having her classmates over again. Instead, she had arranged shrine duties far from the main gates- at least until she could get the group inside. Then she would have him keep an eye out for other visitors, hopefully keeping him out of their hair while they studied.

The girls arrived and Rei settled them in the fire room. She fetched drinks and snacks and wasn't surprised when she had to chase her grandfather away when she returned.

After everyone greeted each other and decided what they wanted to study, quiet settled over the group. Each of them was doing homework, or practice problems, or reading from their textbooks. Only occasional questions broke the sounds of pen on paper and pages turning.

Rei was immersed in her textbook when the sound of Serena giggling bounced around the room. She looked up to see the blonde slap her hand over her mouth. She looked around at everyone incredulously.

"What'd'ya got there?" Makoto asked jovially.

"It must be a really humorous problem," Ami said.

"I'm sure," Minako said with a smirk. She reached over to grab what Serena was reading. Serena tried to stop her, but after a brief struggle, Minako pulled away with a book of manga. She started flipping through the pages.

"Oh ho, this does look very informational," she said.

"Come on guys, we've been studying for so long, I needed a break," Serena said.

Rei glanced at her phone's clock. "Almost an entire half hour. I'm surprised any of us made it this long," she said.

"Here we go," Minako said. "I found what Serena was studying." She turned the book around for everyone to see. On one side a girl blushed and stared up at another person. On the other, the two characters shared a passionate kiss. Serena snatched the book back and everyone laughed.

"I didn't get that far yet," she said defensively.

"Perhaps you should show me where you left off," Ami said. "With your studies, that is. We can figure out what's giving you problems."

"It might be faster to figure out what isn't giving her problems," Minako said with a laugh. Serena stuck her tongue out at her.

Rei glanced at Minako's notebook. Despite the open textbook in front of the blonde, the only thing Minako had written down was the title of the chapter she was studying followed by intricate but crude doodles of the girls in the room. Rei raised a critical eyebrow.

"Looks like your studying is going about as well as Tsukino's," she said as she pointed to the notebook. "You might want to listen to Ami too."

"That's right, you're no better off than I am," Serena said. Minako looked at Rei with betrayal in her eyes. Rei shrugged in return.

Minako sighed and joined Ami and Serena for a lesson. Rei returned to her own textbook. Every now and again she would hear Ami's voice softly explaining a concept with only mild complaining from the blondes. At one point Makoto brought a problem to Rei for help, and the two of them worked together to figure it out.

Time passed quietly. Ami finished explaining an idea and Serena and Minako both nodded in understanding. They were congratulating each other when Ami turned the page to start a new concept.

"Enough," Serena said dramatically. "If I learn any more right now my head will explode."

"Let's just..." Minako said as she reached across Ami and closed Ami's book. "There. I can't look at another word for at least half an hour."

"Well, I suppose you have been working hard," Ami said.

"Don't be soft on them, Mizuno. They've put off studying this long, and now they should pay for it," Rei said.

"How cruel!" Serena exclaimed.

"You're downright inhumane," Minako said.

"They are starting to get it," Ami said "I think they may have earned a break."

"Actually, I'm ready for a break too," Makoto said. "Besides, I'm a little hungry." She opened one of the snacks Rei had brought. "Anyone want any?"

Rei closed her books too and offered to refill everyone's drinks. Minako offered to help and followed her to the kitchen. Of course she also teased Rei about how striking her serious face was. Rei reminded her she was supposed to be focusing on studying, not how other people looked.

"I am studying- your features."

Rei rolled her eyes.

When they returned everyone fell into an easy rhythm. It felt like they were sitting around their desks during lunch in school. Minako made a show of trying to feed Rei, though she was having none of it. That did start the others on feeding each other. They talked about their classes, then their favorite and least favorite snacks. Makoto asked about the manga Serena had brought, starting a spirited discussion on romance manga. Makoto surprisingly had strong opinions about the genre.

Rei was surprised when Ami announced that forty-five minutes had passed. It hadn't even felt like fifteen. Everyone cleaned up and reopened their books- some slower than others- and resumed studying. Serena declared she needed help with literature, and Makoto chimed in she needed help as well. Minako got that look in her eye that Rei recognized as trouble. Minako grabbed her books and plopped down next to Rei.

"I could sure use some help in math," she said.

"Only some?"

"Well I never! Here I am, innocently seeking help at a temple, and its miko insults me instead."

Rei considered her for a moment. "The fact that you specifically said 'innocently' just makes me more suspicious."

"What a world, where our spiritual guides are so cynical."

"With you, there's good reason to be cynical."

Minako changed tactics. She lowered her head to look at Rei from beneath her eyelashes. "Please, I don't want to fall behind everyone." She jutted her lower lip for extra measure.

Rei let out a long suffering huff, but of course she nodded. Minako said she needed help with graphing and analyzing equations. It was slow going. They worked diligently until she could find the slope of different equations as well as different points of intersection. Rei grew more suspicious the longer the blonde went without any sort of innuendo.

"Next up we'll go over tangent lines," Rei said after Minako finished a set of practice problems.

Minako glanced at her. "Actually I already studied tangent lines," she said.

"Oh really?" Rei asked. "Why?"

"I wanted to learn how to lie tangent to your curves."

Rei took a deep breath and closed her eyes. What a terrible pun. "Did you remember that phrase just to make that joke?" she asked.

"Yes," Minako answered proudly.

Rei opened her eyes to stare the other girl down. "Shouldn't you try to actually remember the material?"

"Hey, these can totally help me remember the material" Minako said defensively.

"So what is a tangent line?"

Minako thought for a moment. "A line that hugs a curve tight."

"Not quite," Rei said. "It touches a curve at only one point."

Minako smirked. "Touching at one point isn't so bad, if it's the right point."

Rei groaned. "You'd almost be smart if put more effort into studying than dirty lines."

"That's pretty high praise coming from you," Minako said. "I have another one, if you want to hear it."

"I don't," Rei said. "But I know you'll say it anyway, so you may as well get it over with."

"That's the spirit," Minako laughed. "How are your legs like an asymptote?"

Rei pursed her lips. She didn't want to give Minako any more reaction than that. Minako waited a moment for her to say something, but when she didn't Minako carried on anyway.

"Because they go on forever."

Ami and Makoto laughed from their seats across the table. Serena looked around in confusion and asked them to explain.

"See, that one is both useful and suggestive," Minako said proudly. "It's a win-win."

"You know, if you keep this up your chances of passing will be the square root of i," Rei said.

"Oh, clever," Ami said.

Minako glanced between them. "What? What is the square root of i?"

"Imaginary," Ami said.

Minako looked at Rei, faux-offended.

"Now," Rei said as she leaned towards the other girl, who watched her with worried anticipation. "Since you want to pass so badly, I'm going to make you do practice problems until I forget those awful puns. And I have a very good memory."

Minako gulped and Rei smiled. This was going to be fun.