Hello, people! Here I am with Chapter Trois. Should explain what the hell's been going on with Rei for the past seven years. Includes a minor character death that everybody expected, and some bashing of Yuuichirou, though if you're here for Rei/Minako, I'm sure all of you will tell me to fire away. It was the most in-character way I had of making him a tosser. He's not all bad in this though, I promise.

Oh, and I'm sorry I made Mina abuse drugs last time. It's just that when you suffer that kind of humiliation in a career environment where it's easy to access stuff like that, I think the temptation would be very high. She isn't normally a druggie, don't worry!

Now that's cleared up, I will for the millionth time disclaim the Sailor Moon series (I disclaim Sailor Moon), and send us on our merry way…

Bishoujo Fall Hardest: The Gig

Chapter Three: What You Missed

"So you're a manager now."

"Yeah."

And so after half an hour of sulking over their scuffle, the two women sat side by side against the radiator.

"What drew you in?"

"Honestly? Yuuichirou got me into it."

Mina felt like she had been slapped. Then again, she still wanted to know the answer, so she withstood the hurt and continued to listen.

"You know his band really took off around here just before you left? Well, he invited me to a gig, so I went with him to help set up. You know Yuuchirou, he's not exactly the quickest guy in the world, so when you add three other guys just like him into the mix, it had always been pretty much impossible for them to be ready on time. I watched the same thing starting to happen, and… well…"

Mina grinned. "…And you took the reigns and kicked them all into line."

Rei seemed ready to protest to this turn of phrase, but then gave up.

"Yeah." She smiled. "He asked me to manage the band. You remember how it was with us. He was into me, and I liked having him around, so… it seemed logical. Accepting the job was kind of like a round-about way of agreeing to make a go of it together."

The jealousy burned within her, but she tried to quash it. Now a more important question…

"Are you two still…?"

"Huh?" Rei looked at her and the blonde girl saw a pained expression befall her features. "Oh… no. That ended a long time ago."

She was afraid to ask, but... "What happened?"

"He, uh… partied a little too hard."

She sighed.

"I had always been around to curb his more dangerous addictions, but then when Grandpa got sick, I stayed home to help out at the shrine. By the time he got better and I went back to the band… things were a mess. He was a mess.

"It had caused rifts between us for a while, but he was the worst I'd ever seen him, and I guess it struck a nerve. I'd just spent weeks taking care of someone who was ill by no fault of his own, and suddenly I was babysitting a guy inflicting problems on himself. I gave him an ultimatum. Either he ditched the drugs or I'd ditch him."

Mina watched her eyes glaze with tears.

"He told me he couldn't stop." She scoffed bitterly. "I remember how he begged me not to leave him. He was absolutely hysterical. I agreed to help him go cold-turkey, but after days of cleaning up after his hysteria, of crying because he was screaming through the walls and I knew I was powerless to help, I found his room empty one morning. When I caught up with him, he was shooting up in a park."

Minako grabbed the young woman's wrist. Rei just looked at the floor. "And that was it. I walked out."

"Kami, Rei."

The envy metamorphosed into the worst kind of rage. There was a silence where Rei found time to breathe from the emotional upheaval and Mina thundered below the surface.

"Did you find more work?"

"To be honest, I didn't really look. When I spent time with Grandpa, I realised how much I loved being there. Plus I had to aim for local bands because I didn't want to leave the country, and it's hard to pin those guys down. I was never exactly high up on the food chain, so it was just a case waiting for an opportunity to work with someone less pop-" (this time it was Mina's turn to look at the floor) "-ular."

The guilt on her manager's face was plain. "God Mina, I'm sorry, that was totally-"

"It's okay, really." She appeared to look inwardly and a wistful smile played upon her full lips. "I know I'm not what I used to be."

Rei tried to find consoling words, but was spared the torment when Mina steered the conversation back to her friend.

"So, what did Grandpa think of your career choice? How is he these days?"

Silence.

"Rei?"

The faraway look returning to her friend's eyes brought concern to Minako's. The taller girl took a deep breathe. She felt the words would catch in her throat, but knew all the more that she had to force them out.

"He died. Five years ago."

She looked across at the idol to gauge her reaction. She found that she had recoiled slightly, a hurt expression on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because…"

Because I didn't want to hold you back.

Because I wanted you to follow your dreams.

I wanted you to be free.

All these reasons ricocheted around Rei's head, but the ever-stoic brunette felt the phrases stick again, her mouth poised open as she tried to form the words. Finally she resigned to a different approach.

"How, Mina?" The other girl's cerulean eyes wavered uncertainly as the former miko spoke. "I had no idea where you were; no way to contact you. I wanted you around, but there was just no way." She paused. "I put the obituary in late in the hopes you might be back in town, but you were half way through a European tour by then."

"You're right. And I know it's too little too late, but…" Mina restrained the impulse to touch Rei again, "I'm sorry for your loss. I bet you miss him a lot."

A pause.

"How did you cope?"

Rei managed a small laugh. "Not well. I just went on lockdown. Ordinarily I'd have turned to Ami because we'd always had a weird sort of connection. The fact we didn't show how we felt kind of brought us closer together. That detached view of the world."

She stretched out her legs and got up, deciding to start searching Minako's overly cluttered room for the handcuff keys. It was clearly a big job, and she hadn't been able to muster the energy to tackle it until now.

"But of course she'd left for med school a year earlier. The best in the country, apparently. Then again, what did we expect?"

Minako followed her graceful movements with her eyes.

"It probably sounds a little crazy considering how much we fought, but actually it was Usagi-chan who helped me the most. She snapped me out of the mood I was in, made me feel needed again."

'Usagi-chan?'

The idol ignored the stinging sensation in her solar plexus. Since Rei had been with Yuuichirou, there was a high chance that Rei was just into men, but if she wasn't, Mina had always figured that she would be into Usa. Determined to know more, she prompted the brunette into talking again with an abundance of fake enthusiasm.

"Yay, Usagi-chan!" It was a miracle Rei didn't catch her spitting the last syllable. "Are you guys still in touch?"

"Yeah, though not so much now since Chibi-usa came along last year…"

Mina was stunned. The guilt began to build – she had missed Chibi-usa's birth, and this realisation forced her into a reality check. Usagi was destined to be with Mamoru. More than that, she used to be one of her best friends. She couldn't be jealous of Usa; sweet, meatball-headed Usa.

"Oh my God!" the blonde let her unpleasant thoughts of their princess melt away as she erupted in a high-pitched squeal. "Is she okay? Is she healthy? How many pounds was she?"

Rei grinned. "She was perfect. Eight pounds, two ounces, and a full head of fuchsia hair."

"What does she think of you? And that's my underwear drawer, by the way."

Rei blushed and closed the compartment with a nervous laugh. Then she continued:

"We have a relationship based on compromise. I think she's fantastic, but I'm mostly making plans to be the evil, no-crap aunt. You may take the post of fun, millionaire, of-course-I'll-buy-you-another-pony aunt."

"I don't know. The amount I'm away I'd probably just be 'that strange lady who buys me nice things', and no-one wants to sound that perverse."

Rei smirked. "She sure as heck won't forget me. I'm the one who taught her the magic word to make her mother go ape."

"You didn't?!"

"I did." She grinned proudly. "Chibi-usa's first word was Odango."

She set herself back on topic. "Plus I'm the only one who'll be willing to tell her what a ditz her mother was before she got married."

"Oh my God, of course! They would have got married!" Mina mentally kicked herself. "Were you there?"

"Are you kidding? I was maid of honour!"

"No way?!"

"Uhuh. I told you we were close. Though it happened around the time she was helping me out after Grandpa…" she skipped over the next word, and continued fluently, "so it may have been down to trying to cheer me up, but I don't mind. I was just happy to be there for her."

Minako nodded, watching the former miko rummage through one of her wardrobes. Then something else occurred to her.

"Oh my God, how did you keep the shrine? You didn't move away, did you?"

Rei laughed. "Of course not, baka. There's way too many memories in that place for me to sell it. No, Mako moved in with me. Her inheritance money from her parents finally ran dry, so she couldn't keep the apartment anymore. I know it was a bad thing to happen to her, but I gotta admit it was nice having the extra pair of hands. And the company."

"I thought she went to food tech college?"

"She failed the entrance exam."

"She what? How?"

"Don't get me wrong, she passed the practical part of the test, but there were also exams in Math and Japanese – even Chem because of food content these days."

"What did they want, all A's?"

"Actually, just C's but… well, after Ami left she got really distant. You know how close they always were."

"Wow, she must have been really bummed."

"She was. That's why she came to live with me, the queen of grief!" she cracked blackly.

At that moment she pulled a small silver key from the debris. "Got it!"

She looked up to see Mina staring hard at the floor.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked gently.

"Nothing, I just…" She smiled sadly. "I missed a lot, didn't I?"

Her friend walked back over to her and placed the key in the lock. "But you didn't, Minako. You saw the world! You made yourself a huge success and inspired girls everywhere to be just as much of a baka as you!"

"Hey!"

Rei laughed. "But seriously, Mina, anyone would be crazy to turn that opportunity down. You're a star! There!" The cuffs opened and the blonde withdrew her wrists, rubbing them where the restraints had been.

"Believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be."

Rei remained squatting, staring at her thoughtfully. Then the familiar spark appeared in those intelligent eyes, and Minako felt the familiar grip of fear as a conspiratorial smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"What? What are you thinking?"

She felt static shoot through her hand as Rei grabbed it. "Come with me."

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Oh dear lord, where is Rei taking Minako? …You know what's funny? I KNOW AND YOU DON'T! Anyhow must be heading off now. I have English coursework to mull over. You know you love me, so REVIEW!