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Disclaimer still stands. Also, I do not own Schoolhouse Rock.

"Rei?"

The miko continued to glare at the floor as she desperately tried to think of a way to preserve her dignity, ignoring Usagi. She hadn't moved from her spot since that morning. As a result, neither had the blonde. It was only a lucky concidence that her hangover had abated almost completely under the tension in the air.

The handcuffs. The handcuffs were the key. Wait, no. They had lost the key.

There was no key. There had never been a friggin' key. Rei groaned and reset her entire thought process. Behind her, Usagi started to squirm, squeezing her legs and rocking back and forth as her need grew greater. Why wasn't her fellow Senshi paying any attention to her? This was urgent!

"Um, Rei?" She tried again.

Must break the handcuffs. Destroy them. Eradicate them. Annihilate them. But how? So many options. A hammer. No, too dangerous. A blowtorch. Inaccessible. Fire Arrow? Might vaporize our hands. Can I even transform like this? Gah. I hate my life.

"REI!"

"What, Usagi? Can't you see I'm trying to think over here?"

"I need to go."

Rei grumbled and turned back around, rolling her eyes. "Go where? We're kinda stuck like this, dumpling-for-brains. Now shut up." She yelped as her handcuff was given a violent tug that almost popped her arm out of its socket. The furious miko turned around and was met with the pleading puppy-dog gaze of her future Queen.

"I need to go."

Rei's eyes widened first in understanding, then in horror. With a final disturbed twitch, the miko sighed and got up. Stomping out of her room and down the hall, Rei literally dragged Usagi into the bathroom. The violet-eyed girl lifted one foot, kicked open the stall door, and gestured inside. Her resigned glare ushered Usagi inside far faster than her words did.

"Do your business."

There was a small whimper as the blonde did as she was told. The door managed to shut and lock, the accursed chain slipping through the cracks under the hinges. Rei frowned at how such things were possible. It was just so unfair. What had she done to deserve this?

Leaning on the space between the only two stalls and trying to ignore the sounds of a babbling brook, Rei closed her eyes. A memory sprang unbidden into her mind, taking shape with a speed and clarity that horrified the one and only young Hino.

It was dark. The air smelled faintly of sweet grapes and lilacs, and something else. Something intoxicating and vaguely alcoholic. Rei found herself liking it as she stumbled up from her position around the table, swaying on her feet as her mind tried to assess the situation. The others were gone. What had happened? Rei blinked and looked at the bottle in her hand. Oh, that's right. They had drunk the whole thing between the five of them. That probably wasn't good.

Rei knew this, but she didn't really care. It felt like wildfire was shooting through her vains, washing away all the fears, worries, and doubts. Rei felt liberated. She felt strong and confident, although a reluctant part of her was aware that she would be wishing for death come morning. Rei laughed out loud and started walking towards her room. The floor kept moving beneath her, and the walls were spinning, but it wasn't so bad. It was like she was in a really big merry go round.

Round, round, round, she goes, where she stops, nobody knows.

It was strangely quiet in the shrine. Her grandfather must have gone out earlier and hadn't returned yet. Rei giggled. "Ish prob'ly good that he can't shee me like thish. He'd give me hella a lectshure." She was still giggling when, after much groping for the doorknob, she entered her room. Usagi was sitting on the sleeping mat in the center. It wasn't surprising. Rei toddled over to her and plopped down. Smiling hugely, she slung and arm around her.

The booze was making her talkative. "H'lo there, odango-'ead. How are ya doin' thish fine summah night?" Usagi giggled and draped herself across the miko. Rei found herself not minding the intrusion of personal space.

"I'm doin' pretty well, all things conshisdered."

A pause. "Oh. Thash good, I guess."

Usagi laughed and leaned forward, brushing her cheek against Rei's. The other girl grinned in naive puzzlement. "I like you, Rei. You're a real nice person, even though most of the time you're yellin' at me and callin' me a crybaby and stuff. But sometimes, ya know, I wonder. Why are you so mean sometimes and real sweet other times?"

Usagi was close now, very close. "I wonder why you can't open up and say what you really wnat. Why do you hide? I'm you're friend. You should tell me. I wish you would. I really wish you would. It would make me so happy." The blonde brushed her lips against the ones belonging to the explosive Sailor Mars, pushing forward when no resistance made itself known.

Rei deepened the kiss, relishing it, before some inner sense flashed a hot warning and she pulled away. The taste of strawberries and wine lingered in her mouth, tangy and sharp. Her head was spinning. What was this feeling? Was it the alcohol? Rei clapped a hand to her heart, feeling like an invisble hand had taken hold of it and started squeezing. It hurt. Gamely, Rei grappled with the abrupt and confusing pressure and attempted to wipe the sadness from the young Tsuskino's cornflower blue eyes.

"No...no, 'sagi. We can't. Ish...ish not good. I'm drunk, yer drunk. Thish ain't the way it should go...not how ish sup'osed ta be." Rei fumbled with her words, trying to make sense even though she was drunk as hell and her thoughts were just as muddled. "Ah mean, you've got that whole thing with Mamoru goin' on, an'...an' ish not fair of me to get ya inta doin' sumthin' you'll regret later."

Usagi looked at her with innocent blue eyes that had just a trace of longing in it. It would have been kinder and easier to bear if Rei didn't dimly know that they were both drunk as skunks.

"But what if I don't wanna regret it?"

Off-key singing snapped Rei back into reality like a lightning bolt. She breathed rapidly, chest heaving, trying to make sense of what she had just seen through her mind's eye. Blissfully unaware of her best friend's shocking rememberance, Usagi began to sing something she had heard on the radio a few weeks ago. She was just as blind to the fact that she was tone-deaf.

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, secure domestic tranquility..."

Thankful for the distraction, Rei gave the stall door a smart rap. It was the signal for 'silence, or there shall be violence'. Usagi ignored it, like she did most of the things Rei told her.

"...provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare anAAND..."

"Will you shut up?!"

"No!"