Because of the amount of reviews I got in such a short amount of time (seriously, you guys rocked my world), I decided to get a wiggle on and write you the first chapter of this fic. ^^ Here's hoping you all enjoy it. Sorry that it's a little bit laid-back, but I promise loads of goodies in the next chapter. Which is also already partially-written. Heeee...
Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own shit.
Chapter One: Back to Earth
"Don't forget to sign out before leaving the school today. As it is the first day back for returning students, and first day in general for the rest of you, we understand it's easy to forget protocol. Please leave your name and fingerprint at the main office before you head home to enjoy your evenings. We wish you a pleasant Tuesday, and welcome you fully back to Tazaki High. We hope to see all of you excel this year as well."
The monitor flicked off, not that it had shown all that much to begin with. The young girl, sitting in the back as she had every year prior to this one, packed her things a bit slower than the others in her class as she listened to the usual hustle and bustle of the end of another monotonous day at school. First day back, of course, it was always the worst. People talking about how they'd spent their summers going home. How so-and-so's connection to The Hand That Feeds had gotten them an express ticket to Venus for the summer, where they'd shopped until they dropped. But oh, hadn't you heard the news? No, seriously, Koichi was honestly dating her. Scandal!
She'd only been in the building for eight hours, and it had already proven to be far more than enough.
Her tattered bag packed, the young woman stood, a slender and attractive young woman amidst various others. Though they didn't bother to look at her like they used to (they'd either been scared away or had given up, for the most part), it hardly detracted at all from her beauty. It was not difficult to tell from which planet she hailed.
It was somewhat harder to ask her for that information. Rumour had it she hadn't spoken to anyone in years. They murmured about her in the hallways sometimes. She didn't seem to care if they talked about her, so what were they hurting by doing so? Momoko had been in her lab partner one year, and she hadn't said a word to her the entire time. And Jun had been assigned to that project with her, and (though she'd done all the work), she hadn't said anything at all.
She wasn't just quiet. She was eerily quiet. And whenever someone tried to hard to get to know her, she gave them that look. The glare. Narrowed eyes – violet, like anyone else's from Mars – would be cast in their direction, telling them that they had displeased her. Which, of course, nobody wanted to do. Mars was a wasteland. They had all heard tales of how people escaped it, flocked to other solar systems looking for peace.
It was rare that they choose to stay inside of the Dark Moon Kingdom, let alone brought to the hub. Dark Earth was difficult to get passage to, even for Venusians or Mercurians, both highly sought after commodities.
So why the Martian? Why the cold, burning stare? They liked to theorize. It was something to do. The best part? She understood that entirely. She got no thrill though, hiding herself from them. She went to school for one purpose only – to pursue her education. After school it was all work, her honour-bound duty to her foster parents, and homework. Sleep, get up, do some cleaning about the house and shop, go to school, learn, come back, work. Repeat cycle without batting an eye.
For what it was worth, she could at the very least see the monotony of the cycle.
The soles of her worn sneakers hit the ground as she made to leave the classroom, sure that she wouldn't be jostled and bumped into now that the last of them were filing out of the classroom. With her head bowed, raven bangs hiding her eyes from the tall people who surrounded her, she left the area, fleeing the building like not doing so would have her killed.
The walk home was lonely – and her favourite part of any given day. She enjoyed the quiet that the grey skies brought her, watching as various sink holes formed in the sky. Hn. Quiet could only last so long, she supposed, hearing the approach of another space vessel. The large constructs flew about frequently, though tended to carry very few passengers. They were a means of trading goods between the planets – nothing more, nothing less.
She'd been on one once, of course, so there was little to wonder about. She'd learned in school of their history, their build, how they flew and worked, how they reached the speeds they did without shaking those inside like eggs. There was no curiousity there, just the same dull fascination each time one fluttered on by.
They looked like... well, boats. Not that boats existed outside of history texts. She'd longingly stared at one once, wondering what it would've been like to have existed during a time of cars and of planes and trains and horses.
See, now, there was something to think about. Unfortunately, she seemed to have arrived 'home'. Or at least, that building she was located within.
The kanji on the small plate outside the building indicated that it was a shop, though she knew full well that the upper half of the miniature semi-dome was where they lived. They being herself and the Tsukino family.
Anyone at school who thought she didn't talk much there should've seen her in that place. Not when she was working, no – sadly, customer interaction was a part of the job. But, after having lived with the Tsukino's since the tender age of four, it was safe to say that they would've been lucky to have known more than just her name, height, and hair colour. She wished them good morning's on occasion, and very rarely left them with more than a nod about anything.
If she didn't answer the questions of customers in the shop, they may have concluded that she was mute.
There was one occupant of the house, of course, who just loved to push the limits of their foster child. Tsukino Usagi, same age, same height, entirely different person. She'd been born on the Earth itself, and had thus never encountered the problems that many others had when procuring passage to the planet. Outgoing, optimistic, obnoxious, and a few other words starting with the lovely letter 'O' would be the best way to describe her.
So maybe she talked to one person regularly. It wasn't like they had any friendly exchanges. It was mostly that idiot talking anyway. Jabbering on and on about things she didn't even care about -
"Oh Rei! I forgot how you're always so much later than me coming home! Get inside, it's cold out again! You'll freeze. Honestly, trying to be all big and tough. You never wear nearly enough out there!" Usagi chided, smacking the Martian on her arm as soon as she entered.
For her part, all Rei did was sigh, head bowed in slight resignation. This was life. Big ol' welcome back to the norm, she supposed.
The summer had been... interesting, to say the least. She'd been allowed safe passage back to Mars for two months of it, and though the blonde before her had pouted and complained that she would be missing out. But it wasn't as if there had been a summer yet where she'd stayed on the Earth. The Tsukino's liked to think that their charge simply missed her parents and was taking her opportunity to see them, but seeing as how she'd never even mentioned still having parents, they could only safely assume so much.
She'd arrived on their doorstep last night, soaking wet with her the few possessions she'd taken with her in the suitcase by her side and knapsack slung over her shoulder. There wasn't any rain, and though they asked why, exactly, she was so wet, Rei hadn't answered them with anything more than a shrug.
The raven-haired girl had been absolutely ravenous that morning, like she hadn't eaten in a year as she tore into her breakfast and more. Tsukino Ikiko had kept piling things in front of her, hoping that she had made enough food to sate the Martian's appetite. It was always like this when she returned from Mars. She acted starved and had lost the weight to prove she just may have been. Whenever someone walked by, violet eyes watched them carefully as she hunched over her food, gulping it down so fast there was no possible way she could've tasted it at all.
"Rei? Are you even listening to me? Ugh, you can be such a meanie sometimes!" And there it was. Blue eyes filling with crocodile tears as she stared at the only person she had ever considered to be something like a sister.
Sighing, she looked at her blankly, staring straight at the blonde. "Ah, good! I was just asking, how was Mars? I know you must have been real excited to get back here, yeah? I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you when you got back home, I was asleep. And then I slept in this morning, so I didn't get to see you then either... eheh... so really, this is our first encounter after months apart! Oh, hold me Rei!"
She flung herself at the Martian who, anticipating this, stepped to the side with a bored look on her face. Usagi smacked face-first into the wall and whimpered, rubbing her reddened nose with a sniff. "Oh, you... you... !" Shaking a fist at the offensive member of the household, she could've sworn she saw a ghost of a smirk cross Rei's features before the other girl headed off.
Sigh. Why did she have to be such a goshdarn mystery all the fricking time?
She followed her upstairs, watching as the other girl carefully put down her bag, headed towards the kitchen for a quick break before she started her work at the shop below again. Usagi snickered, knowing full-well that her mother had other plans concerning Rei and her military-style routine. After all, this was the last year she'd be living with them. She would be off to university after this year, or maybe go back to Mars for good. They had to do something to make it worthwhile!
"Rei-chan, good to see you here! We wanted to introduce you to someone," Ikiko's voice floated from the kitchen as the raven-haired girl stood, collecting a glass from the cupboard. She needed to stand on tip-toes to do it, as there was a counter that must be leaned atop and the middle shelves were those with the drinking glasses.
A young man shuffled into the area, stubble marring his face almost as badly as his terrible haircut. One couldn't even see his eyes past the mop of brown that he called hair, Rei noted with a small sniff, violet eyes narrowing as he blushed profusely upon seeing her. "Yuuchirou-kun, meet Hino Rei," the eldest Tsukino woman introduced, the young man stumbling forwards with his jaw essentially down to his knees.
He stammered out a quick, "P-pleased to meet you... oh yeah... totally pleased to meet you, Rei-san." His hand took hers without her even offering it, giving the appendage several quick shakes. He loved her already, Usagi could tell. Didn't even care that she didn't even nod in response to his presence, removing her hand and going back to doing what she had been moments ago.
"Yuuchirou is going to help us out with the shop, so you won't have to this year. Isn't that wonderful, Rei-chan?" she supplied for her mother, seeing the Martian freeze just slightly. Twitch.
"Yes, we thought it best that you try having a bit of time to yourself this year. After all, I'm sure you're looking at universities and possibilities for next year. We wanted your last year of high school to be dedicated to whatever you wanted to do, and Yuuchirou was more than willing to help." And work for peanuts.
At least, that was what Rei had gathered from everybody's forced smiles as she collected her previously dropped schoolbag, shrugged, and exited the room. Apparently, she was going to have a lot more time to herself from now on.
So be it. There was always meditation.
"Oh, Rei-chan, it's so exciting! Now you'll be able to spend time with the rest of us! You know, the others are coming over later, and I'm sure they'd love to meet you for more than two seconds!" Oh right. There was always that.
She would have preferred to meditate for the rest of the night and do her homework in the peace of her room. But there was something in Usagi's bright, blue eyes that said she just wasn't going to take no for an answer. "I won't take no for an answer, Rei! You'll come do your homework with us, right? I know you're in some of the same classes, and your marks are extraordinary. Kaa-san is always saying how I should study like you... eheh..."
Well, it wasn't like she had a choice here. She gave a small nod, violet eyes widening in pure fear at the squeal that her foster sister emitted as she jumped on her, successfully catching the Martian in a hug this time around. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you Rei-chan! You'll love the others. And they'll love you. Just be your usual charming self – actually, maybe talk a bit more. A lot more. And smile. And they will love you, oh, they'll love you so much!"
As Usagi went on and on beside her, she couldn't help but wonder what, exactly, she had gotten herself into. It was that day that Rei decided she hated Yuuchirou, as well. For coming along and providing the Tsukino family with an excuse to try and turn her into... into...
She didn't even want to think about it.
***
The sound of those three entering the building had never filled her with as much dread as it did in that moment. After having been pestered by news for slightly over an hour, she was now to be subjected to teenage girls. The regular sorts. A Mercurian, a Jovian, and a Venusian, if memory served her correctly. She had barely noticed them before, nothing beyond their race. They had no names, no faces. They weren't supposed to.
And here she was, about to make friends. Or so Usagi claimed. She really wasn't too keen on the idea of chatting up people who had been strangers to her for years.
Maybe she could do some housework for the Tsukino's, sweep and mop, do the dishes... something. Anything.
"Reeeeeiiiiii-chan!" Anything!
"Oh, Rei-san is back?" the tallest of the four entered the room, looking at her with dull surprise. The Martian shifted uncomfortably under the stares of her peers as they followed suite, wishing she had the ability to become invisible. Or, for that matter, immaterial. Then she could simply rematerialize... somewhere else. Anywhere else.
"Oh yeah," Usagi stated enthusiastically, leaving her friends to go sling an arm about the most antisocial person in the room. "She got back so late last night that I didn't get to see her, though. And then this morning, eheh... I kind of... missed seeing her... you know... she gets up early..."
"More like you slept in again! You forget, I'm in your first period class now!"
"Like you're any better, Minako-chan! I saw you just sitting down when I got there!"
"Ehhh! W-well... at least I made it before the final tone!"
At this, Usagi gasped, and promptly stuck out her tongue. Immaturely, this 'Minako' folded her arms across her chest and did the same, the pair of them engaging in a contest of raspberry blowing and sideways glares.
The Mercurian sighed, and Rei decided to move a bit more towards her. She felt like she, at least, might be somewhat tolerable. Her blue hair, cropped shorter than she had ever seen a woman's hair before leaving Mars, was the only reason she knew what planet the girl hailed from.
She looked curiously at Rei as the raven-haired girl approached, distracted from the action for a moment as the Jovian stepped in in an attempt to separate the blondes as they started to playfully swat at one another. "Hey guys, come on, calm down... remember what happened last time. I – Minako-chan! Usagi-chan!"
The pair stumbled towards Rei and the Mercurian. The former looked a bit horrified as they tugged at one another's hair – the latter simply moved out of the way.
With a loud crash, Rei found herself underneath someone else, groaning and rolling away from the weight as she rubbed the back of her head. Urgh. Not exactly what she had thought Usagi meant when she said that she'd be 'making friends'.
"Owwwww! Minako-baka!" Usagi chided, rubbing her aching rear end as she got to her feet, before gasping a bit. "Rei-chan! Rei-chan, speak to me! Are you alright? Did that baka hurt you? I know, she's heavy."
"Hey, you're the one who eats all the sweets!"
A gasp. "What did you just say? Hey, come on, you're all... all muscular from your sports. And I do not eat that many sweets!"
"Are you saying my form isn't feminine?"
"Oh, not again," the brunette groaned, holding a hand in front of green eyes as if to shield herself from the things happening before her.
"Usagi-chan," an unfamiliar voice sounded, the other four pausing to the rising Martian, watching as she rubbed the back of her head in agitation. "I'm fine. Let's go study." Get it over with, and then find a way to avoid these girls for the rest of her life. At all costs.
The girl who had fallen on her stopped to pick her jaw up off the floor as Rei left, blue eyes following her for a moment. "Umm, Usagi-chan?" she asked after a moment. "Call me whatever you want, but... did she just speak?"
The Terrestrial, for what it was worth, looked a bit confused herself, covering it up by laughing a bit. "Oh yeah... probably means she's really angry with you for falling on her. Shame, Minako-chan! You should go apologize!"
"Or we could, well, study... she seems to want to," the blue-haired girl suggested shyly, earning herself a couple of nods as they followed Rei to the living room.
The girl had taken the only single seat in the room, leaving the loveseat and couch for the other four. At least she wouldn't have to have them near her again. Too many invasions of her personal space in one day tended to make her feel restless.
Usagi, however, came right over and sat down on her, peeking over the book Rei had been using to hide herself to stare at her foster sister. Grunting in response, the older of the pair took a moment to stare at her, one violet eye twitching.
"Reeeeiiii-chan... come sit on the couch! It will be hard for you to study all the way over here."
"Iie... I think it might be easier for her to study so far away from you," the Jovian teased as she came over, deciding to take some initiative and do what no one had bothered to yet. "Hey Rei-san. Sorry about the scene earlier."
She nodded, taking that to be the truth. She had already determined that the brunette was the peacemaker of the group, though a poor leader. She had little authority with them, it seemed. "That said, I think I'm going to agree with your choice of study topic. History and I are already having a bit of a falling out, and the year's only just begun," she offered, scratching her cheek a bit embarrassedly as a sheepish smile crossed her features.
Rei hadn't even been picky about what text she'd collected upon reaching the room, and truth be told, she had yet to read a single word on the page before her. She'd been busy trying to calm herself. Find her center and go on from there.
"I'm sorry for falling on you, Rei-san," a voice offered, and she looked up to see cerulean eyes staring at her with the utmost sincerity. "You'll study with me, right? I'm not exactly the best when it comes to history," Minako stated with a lopsided grin, patting the space on the couch beside her.
And, as Rei stood and moved almost mechanically to that place and the usual chatter of teenage girls broke out all around her, she could only think of the person beside her and how strange it felt to be sitting there with her in that moment.
Wait, strange? No... good. And that really was strange.
x0x
Alright! Sorry for the chapter being a bit boring, but I really just wanted to get this sucker and the prologue over with. ^^;
anon ; Thanks so much! I hope you'll still like it as the story progresses. ^^
Graceful Amethyst ; Thank you very, very much. ^^ I hope you'll still find the plot interesting as I get around to it, since the prologue was meant to be a short and sweet ending of sorts. If you're still interested in beta reading for me after this chapter (I'll understand completely if you aren't), then I do hope we can get in touch! And oh, my first language isn't English either. ^^
Axilestyn ; Thanks! It's amazing what you can do once you... kill everybody. xD; Oops.
Kythil ; Thank you! I enjoy your work as well. ^^ Hopefully we can keep inspiring one another, get a solid amount of ReixMina out there!
WITS ; I cannot accurately express my thanks. You did more than just review a short prologue. ^^ If I could write you as much as I wanted to here, I'm sure I'd rival the size of the prologue itself. xD; I'll definitely be sending you a PM sometime, perhaps just to shoot the ReixMina breeze. Also, if you ever want to bounce ideas off of me, I'd be more than willing to toss some right back. xD Those of us who are too lazy to write stories must stick together, after all! I've been writing this to avoid my studying/doing various university assignments. xD; Mark of a bad student, but Reinako fan, it seems! And oh, the size of your review positively thrilled me. I literally had a little squee over it in my dorm room.
gurjhime ; Hehe. ^^ Thank you! I haven't read a fic yet where Crystal Tokyo got to bite the dust, and where I'm hoping to start introducing a lot of futuristic ideas in chapter two, I figured, why the hell not? I hope you'll enjoy where this fic goes!
ShinyMushroom ; Thank you! Hope this update can tide you over until the next one. I promise, it's going to start getting a bit more interesting from here on out. ^^
Spikesagitta ; Yes, yes I just killed off everyone. Again – oops. xD; Welcome to the future, I suppose! Rebirth abounds (though nobody knows it yet). I hope I'm keeping enough mystery in the story to keep you interested, at least for now. ^^