Okie, sorry once again for the delay. D: I tried to get this off to my beta, but she seems to have disappeared (probably just le busy!). ^^; So, we're back to some unchecked chapters. xD; Anyway, it's longer in hopes of making up for the delay, and the next chapter is over halfway done as well, so expect an update pretty soon following this one!
Disclaimer: Characters and original plot do not belong to me. D: If so, Minako and Rei would have wound up together in the manga, kthx. XD
Chapter Three: September
"Once again, beware of the masked soldier Sailor Mars. She is a cold-hearted killer who attacks innocents with no provocation, using forbidden magic to murder those who endeavour to keep you safe."
Aino Minako ignored the viewscreen as it popped down, hitting a button by her head to shut it off, the area immediately clearing to reveal her bedroom. Teddy bears littered various areas of her floor and shelves, as did copious amounts of clothing. Dirty or clean, nobody could really know. Everything was bright, and fluffy, and...
And she was nearly certain that the Martian she had in mind would have hated it if she could have seen. Just one look into her room the other day had told her more about Rei than she ever would have found out from the silent girl. The order – perfect and everything in its place. It was suspicious, sure, but at the same time, she couldn't see the raven-haired foster child living in any other situation. It was like everything she did was meant to baffle her, though.
Minako couldn't wrap her head around the concept of not talking for days on end as it was. Combine that with everything else that was Rei and it just left her with a headache and sense of frustration.
She threw a pillow at the opposing wall to relieve some of the stress, teeth gritting as she thought back to the other day, the cut that had been keeping Rei from school. The blonde immediately felt a bit more worried. And a bit more confused, which of course came hand in hand with more frustration. Why was it that she had to be the first thing she thought of when she woke up in the morning and the last thing before she slept each night?
It was downright... downright despicable! People weren't supposed to be able to just crawl into your head like that. Distracting her from her Saturday... how dare she.
With the first week of school under their belts, the group was settling into something of a usual dynamic. Makoto did decently, if only because of how hard she tried. She was easily distracted by (Minako was both ashamed and proud to admit) herself and Usagi by times, though, and her marks would reflect that. Ami never faltered, even attended a secondary school. And Rei... well, Rei's marks were something she'd only heard of in passing. According to Usagi, she'd never received anything below a ninety.
It all seemed to be hard work, though. She'd seen her squinting at books and making a face as she hurriedly scribbled things down in reading period, when she was the most tempted to go sit by her. As it was, Minako had started sitting in the back of the class with her. Usually to cast her odd little glances here and there, then pretend she hadn't been caught staring when violet eyes would come up to meet hers and Rei would raise just one eyebrow in her direction.
She was nearly certain that she made the Martian nervous, a fact which upset her greatly. Mostly because making Rei nervous was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to get to know her in ways even Usagi hadn't been able to. Have her talk about Mars like it was just another vacation spot. Talk about her parents, if they even still existed. Or maybe talk about what had become of them if they were gone.
It was then that Minako realized she was crushing hard on someone who had literally never said more than two words to her at any given time. In fact, Rei had never said more than two words to her period. They'd been 'thank you', and she'd blushed profusely afterwards.
She had an accent, apparently. Heavy, thick... Martian. She'd never heard the language, but it wasn't too hard to figure it out. They knew every planet had its own tongue based on the languages that used to be found across the Earth, though she was not entirely adept when it came to what had been known as Venusian. They'd left the planet when she was twelve, herself, her parents, and three younger brothers. It was a lilting sort of language, she remembered. Her family still spoke it on occasion, when others weren't in their home. But as for writing it... well, she wasn't entirely sure she could anymore.
Rubbing the back of her head as a rather loud knock came at the door, she stuck a middle finger out quickly, holding it there as the eldest of her three brothers came running into the room and jumped on top of her. "Minaaaaaa-chaaaaaaan!" He smacked her rear through the duvet, watching as she squirmed beneath him.
It was certainly difficult being the eldest and only daughter of four children. It meant she was expected to babysit these monsters. After all, 'she was seventeen and they were only fourteen and younger, so she was expected to be a responsible adult and set a good example for them'. Minako scoffed still at that little spiel, flipping her brother over with a deft roll of her body. "Lay off, Tsubasa!" The boy looked up at her from the floor, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He looked like... well, anyone else in her family. Blonde hair, blue eyes.
It was little wonder she was fascinated by the Martian, honestly. Venus was filled with more and more of the same eyes and the same hair. Earth was inhabited by everything under the sun – but the rarest were people from Mars.
Rebellious little planet... she'd never understand why they had even bothered to keep people threatening the Regime alive, but she was certainly glad they had. Otherwise she might not have met the most beautiful person she had ever met.
Oh man, so much for it being a little crush.
She'd always thought Rei was hot. And it had always been a well-known fact that Minako preferred the company of both genders. But actually being able to spend time with the woman who had grown over the years, from the shy twelve year old to a resolute and silent sort of beauty... urgh, it was doing nothing for suppressing her hormones.
"Earth to Minakooo! Earth to Mina-neesan!"She blinked, remembering then that she had been in the process of killing that little worm Tsubasa.
She got out of bed, standing about seven centimetres taller than she had last spring. The summer had brought with it what she was sure would be her final growth spurt, leaving her taller than Ami and Usagi (and, incidentally, Rei) this year. It was interesting, not being the shortest of the group anymore. In fact, other than Makoto, she would be the tallest...
Hah! They would bow before her extended form!
She chased Tsubasa out into the hallway, only to have a viewscreen fall into her vision from nowhere. Feet digging into the hard tile of her hallway, she skidded to a halt, finding herself quickly on her behind. Sighing, she heard the familiar tone. Ringing. Argh, who was calling her at two on a Saturday? Didn't they know she'd still be asleep? Hello, hangovers!
She reluctantly hit accept anyway, seeing Usagi's tired face there. Reddened nose running like a faucet, she did Minako the great service of sniffling in the loudest way possible before she started to speak. "Ah... gomen-ne, Minako-chan, but I'm sick. I don't think I'll be able to make it today..."
"What? Usagi-chan, you have to! Tsubasa-baka has already started torturing me, I cannot watch them on my own again! Remember last time? Remember what happened then?"
"Ah... well... if it's any help, I kind of liked your hair when it was green..."
"Usagi!"
"Gomen, gomen... ah, Rei-chan?" She watched as another face appeared on the viewscreen, violet eyes staring her down then, full of something Minako couldn't make out.
"I'll watch them for you today," she offered, shrugging off Usagi as the girl grabbed her arm, shaking her head profusely as if to say 'don't do it, they're evil'. Which was what she was screaming the moment the Martian managed to shake her off. "To make up for you bringing me my homework earlier this week."
It was the most she'd said in a long time, let alone to the two blondes hearing this, and somehow, the Aino recognized this, beaming endearingly as she bounced up off the floor in her pyjamas. "Okay! Thank you, thank you soooo much Rei-san!" It was when she reverted to her silence again, nodding only once before she turned to leave, that Minako saw it.
Poking out of the back of her jeans, something hidden and oddly recognizable. Red... mask. A red mask, resembling old cat-eye glasses from centuries gone by, before they were able to so easily correct vision impairment. It sparkled and caught her attention almost immediately, in a way that forced her to stare at it and ignore Usagi's continued babbling. Like she couldn't look away, no matter what she did.
Her head throbbed, dim recognition overwhelming every other sense in her body as she stared at the retreating figure on the viewscreen, determined to see the mask later as well. There was something too familiar about it.
"Minako-baka! Are you listening to me?"
"Huh? I'm sorry, Usagi-chan, I'm just... still a little bit tired. I had a late night."
"No doubt! You went to Matsume-san's party last night, didn't you? And probably drank and drank and drank... and then drank some more... ooh, were there any cute boys there? Did you – wait, wait, you're trying to distract me! Aha, I'm on the ball today! Anyway, as I was saying – be careful with Rei-chan! I know those brothers of yours are monsters and she's probably still hurt from earlier this week. She's been really tired, I'm getting a little worried. See if you can maybe get her to relax a bit? Easier said than done, I know, I know, but just give her a blanket and a movie, trust me."
Minako blinked, aware that if this weren't reality and were some sort of anime, she probably would've had a fair-sized sweatdrop running down the back of her head right about now. "Eh... okay, Usagi-chan. But I should probably go and get dressed, since she's already on her way - "
"Whaaaaaaaaat! Minako-chan! Why didn't you tell me you saw her leave! I wanted to pack her a lunch! I was making her cookies!"
"Is that what that particularly foul-looking black cloud coming from your kitchen is?"
"Aaaah, my cookies!" The viewscreen cut out just as Usagi turned to run for it, crying loudly in hopes that maybe her voice alone would convince them to not catch fire.
Minako sighed, rolling blue eyes and shaking her head in something akin to dismay as she thought of just how ruined that kitchen must have been by that point in time. Usagi was constantly trying to cook something in it... it was not hard to imagine the shape it would've been in at that point in time.
Smiling, she retreated back to her bedroom, avoiding bumping into her brothers and locking the door after herself.
Today, she was chillin' like a villain with a Martian!
***
Rei's arrival was marked with six pairs of very wide, bright blue eyes staring at her, only one of said pairs familiar in the slightest. The entire Aino family appeared to have gathered to catch sight of what Minako had bragged to be 'the elusive and ever so rare Martian' friend of hers.
Shifting uncomfortably under the scrutinizing gaze of so many people, she decided to concentrate on the only one of the six whom she knew. The one who was grinning like an idiot in the back and pushing through the throng of people she called 'family' to grab her friend's hand and lead her inside. "Don't mind them, they always stare when they see people from other planets. You should have seen Tsubasa-kun's face when he met Ami-chan the first time around."
"Hey! Blue hair is unnatural, and I stand by that statement!"
"Uh, maybe for us, but not for people from Mercury. Baka." Rolling her eyes, she pulled Rei a bit closer to her, bending down a touch to whisper in her ear. "I swear, he's not as bad as Usagi-chan makes him sound. But don't tell him I told you that, or he'll get a head the size of a planet."
A semi-polite clearing of a throat was heard from behind the pair, the eldest Aino standing behind his wife and looking at the pair with a suggestively raised eyebrow. Minako merely smiled coyly and shrugged when he stared at Rei, jaw dropping a little bit.
The best part of having brothers like him – you only had to suggest and they would jump to their own conclusions.
"Minako-chan, Mama and I are heading out to work now. Promise us you'll keep the damage to a minimum?" the tallest of all people present asked, his smile wide but eyes a combination of afraid and hopeful.
Giggling, the eldest Aino sibling stood on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek, patting it sympathetically afterwards. "Don't worry Papa! Rei-san over there is a master when it comes to controlling the kiddies. Isn't that right, Rei-san?"
Rei looked up, blinking once before shrugging. Minako eyed her like a hawk, not bothering to hide anything about her gaze as she raked it up the raven-haired girl's form appreciatively. "Ah, she's just being modest, Papa. You have nothing to fear! Now, get going you workaholics! Or you'll be late, and then I'm going to get the call from your boss right after you leave and have to deal with her spitting all over the viewscreen."
Chuckling, the relatively attractive man gave a nod, grabbing his wife around her waist and waving to his children. "See you later children! It was nice to meet you, Rei-san!"
"Hai, you as well, Aino-sama," she offered, bowing in response and Minako couldn't help but giggle at the level of formality involved in that simple action. And again, she found herself staring at her, more and more like a wolf approaching its prey as her parents finally left.
"Ewwww, Neesan!" someone cried, and she turned to see the youngest of her three brothers staring at her with a pout and wide, blue eyes. "Is she your koibito? Mama and Papa said they'd tell us when you had one! Unless... did you not tell them?" You know, for a ten year old, Kenta could be awfully perceptive.
It was then that Daisuke started into Rei, and everything started to go to pot. Daisuke was twelve, leaving all the boys two years apart from one another, though he was arguably his sister's favourite. She didn't bother to pretend she loved them equally anymore – Kenta and Tsubasa had each other, after all. Daisuke was the one who avoided getting her into trouble on her babysitting missions, who actually bothered to be nice to her friends, and acted the part of the overprotective one when she brought home boys or girls that she'd been seeing.
"Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you! Rei-san, was it? Tell me your intentions with my neesan!" Violet eyes widened in mild shock, before looking to Minako with a bit of a slack jaw. The surprise was evident on her features, causing the eldest Aino to giggle and shrug.
It only made sense that Rei wasn't used to protective siblings, she supposed. She'd lived with Usagi and her mother most of her life, and the pair of them had been alone for the six years before Rei had arrived at their doorstep, social worker pretty much dragging her inside, from what she'd been told.
Minako frowned, pondering her family on Mars. What was it like there? Did she have any siblings? Better yet, were they alive? They'd learned terrible things about that planet in her modern society class, as well as history. And of course, there were always the stories about monsters that lived there, attacking the few people who made camps there.
But if that was true, why would Rei bother going back each summer? Unless she did have family and simply wanted to visit... but why couldn't they come to Earth? Better yet, why had she ever left Mars if she had family there? Urgh,
Hey, hey, hey. What were these thoughts? She shook her head, smiling a bit to herself. Of course family was the first thing that came to her mind – her own was messed up enough, in its own ways. It was usually herself, Tsubasa, Daisuke and Kenta all alone in the large house. Her parents were away for business a good deal of the time. She supposed that was what happened when you were famous for what you did.
Sighing, she went to pull Daisuke off the stoic Martian. Apparently, Rei had simply shut down to shut him out, a tactic she kept in mind for Tsubasa later on. "Daisuke-kun! Leave poor Rei-san alone, hm? She's just here to keep me company. A friend, you know? Get yourself a couple, silly." An affectionate rub to his blonde head, and she was sure he got the picture. "Alright, troops! Movie time! Pick one, and Rei and I will be right there!"
The three boys jumped together, nodding and rushing off to argue over who owned which film and scramble amid the small chips upon which they were contained. Ah, it would be a glorious fight – too bad she was going to miss it for this.
"Rei-san, are you sure you're alright for this? My brothers get a bit... touchy-feely sometimes, and if you're still injured - " Her fingers twitched slightly, hands reaching towards the raven-haired girl's shirt curiously. She lifted the hem of it and was met with little resistance, gasping as she stared at perfect, pale flesh.
"But... is this the wrong side? I could've sworn..." Her hands deftly lifted the other girl's shirt more, causing poor Rei to blush unceremoniously and try to wriggle back into her shirt a bit more. "You... you're completely... there's nothing there. A few days ago you were seriously injured, and now you don't even have a scar." Minako felt the need to say it, if only to make it more real for herself.
It didn't seem possible, and yet, there was the proof. She'd seen the completely healed skin with her own baby blues, and damn if Rei wasn't squirming now. She sighed, scratching the back of her head and shooting her a semi-knowing glance before retreating towards the sounds of her brothers fighting. They wouldn't stay awake forever, after all – she'd have time to interrogate her... (acquaintance? Friend?) later.
"Neesan, we picked a movie! Come see, come see!"
***
Nine hours and twenty-seven minutes later, Minako found herself cursing those brothers of hers. By 'a movie', they had of course meant five. What. The. Hell.
She wasn't complaining, however – she'd gotten to spend all those hours sitting on the couch with Rei, brushing against her 'accidentally' when she so deemed it appropriate, casually touching or stealing glances. It was nice, she'd determined, staring at the viewscreen as Tsubasa, the only brother who wasn't passed out on the floor, started up another ninja flick. "Just... one... more..." Even he seemed tired of the marathon of fighting movies, blue eyes red-rimmed from hours of staring at a hologram screen.
Minako chuckled, absent-mindedly reaching to rub the head of the person next to her, only to find it was a bit higher up than she had expected. Suddenly remembering that it was Rei there and not Kenta, she retracted her hand, smiling as her cheeks flushed a subtle pink in contrast to the violent red of the shorter girl's.
Her hair was soft. It felt like silk in her fingers, for the moment that she'd been able to pull at it. She wondered what it would be like, to possess that mane of hair. Or to be able to swipe the bangs away from amethyst eyes whenever she wanted, just to see them better.
Rei was looking at her strangely, but the blonde didn't care. She challenged the gaze with a raised eyebrow of her own, smirking in hollow success when the other girl broke eye contact first. "You know, I think I'm onto your game," she stated, quietly enough so as not to wake any of the sleeping boys on the floor before them. "You don't talk much, but your actions speak volumes."
The Martian seemed honestly surprised in that moment, staring at her like she'd grown another head. Minako certainly felt like she had – a head full of knowledge and the ability to acquire more knowledge about the raven-haired goddess before her. "You know, words aren't all that bad, though. There are some things you can't convey with a look alone." A challenging glance was sent her way. "Alright, smart one. How old are you?"
Rei proceeded to blink seventeen times in quick succession, just slow enough for the blonde to be able to count. She chuckled, knowing she shouldn't have been surprised at all that the girl had found a way around that one. "Alright, alright. That was an easy one. How about... what's your middle name?" A shake of the head. "You don't have one?" Nod. "Well that was simple enough. Hmm... what's your favourite food?"
At the risk of having it turn into charades, she waited. She waited so long that the Venusian could have sworn that it actually started to hurt. And then she heard it. The most beautiful thing on the planet.
"Vegetarian pizza." It wasn't so much that vegetarian pizza was beautiful... it was her voice. Her voice, and the fact that Minako now knew that she could make Rei speak. Any time, any place.
She couldn't wait to hear more from her.
((A/N: Was going to leave it off here, and then decided to stay up an extra few hours and write a bit more for everyone because this chapter took so freaking long. So here you go. xD It's pretty much two chapters in one. OH WELL.))
***
September passed in an unremarkable haze for most of the students who attended Tazaki. They woke up each morning, put on their uniforms, went to school, hung out with friends, maybe even started to date. The gossip died down slightly as the wonders of the summer faded into nothingness or simple memories, ones that would last a lifetime.
September was generally that sort of month. The one you forgot come October, as midterms started to hurtle your way and school seemed to press down on the students with a vigour. When sports ruled your life, and suddenly you were living a routine again. Doing the day-to-day tasks in a mindless sort of fashion, with nothing but December in your sights.
For Aino Minako, September was the summer. It had become a series of memories, ones she'd forget in two years, or cherish in thirty more. September had been a month of Rei. Gorgeous, unforgettable Rei. When she was ninety-five, she would still remember Rei. How could she ever forget her?
September was officially her favourite month of the year.
The promise of heavy books to break her back had been replaced with pizza nights at her home with Rei. The thought of days she'd have to wake up too early kicked to the side as she thought of the rest of the day, six out of seven classes just filled with Rei.
Rei, Rei, Rei, Rei, Rei. Even her name sounded heavenly. She found herself writing 'Aino Rei' just to see what it looked like, though marriage was probably taking it a bit too far. For a simple crush, she had to admit – it was going pretty far. And if there had been even the slightest sign that maybe the Martian was gay (or even bisexual, or just straight with exceptions – preferably blonde exceptions such as herself), she would've already gone for it.
Instead, it came down to this. Sitting in the back of the class with her each and every day, and watching her write with a vigour. She took her notes like she took life – seriously. It was something the blonde wished she could do. Her own paper tended to remain... eheh... blank. She had better things to do, though! Such as stare at perfectly puckered pink lips and wonder what they would feel like against her own. So full, she wagered it'd be like kissing satin...
"Aino-san? The answer?"
Ah! Noooo! "Eheh... demo, I think I spaced out for a second there, sensei." She should have been embarrassed as the professor went on to chastise her for not paying attention in class, switching to some other student afterwards upon realizing that he'd lost her again. She should've been embarrassed, and yet, she wasn't at all. Because Rei was looking at her, a playful look in her eyes.
She'd learn to read the 'stoic' and 'cold' goddess in just a month. Something even Usagi seemed to have trouble with, she'd noted with a bit of pride. Eleven years living with her compared to a little over a month of... friendship, yes, she'd call it that... and she had mastered things Usagi couldn't even dream of.
Or, and this was a thought she only dared to let herself entertain – maybe it wasn't that she was particularly perceptive at all. Maybe it was that Rei wanted her to understand her. Maybe she felt... something for her. After all, Aino Minako had been her usual, charming self at all times around her.
"Hehe..." Sinking into her chair, the blonde allowed her eyes to close for a moment of bliss, a smile playing her lips even as the bell rang, signifying the end of class. The end of class, and her paper was still entirely blank.
Oops.
And yet, following Rei to lunch, she didn't feel bad about it at all. Such was the effect of the raven-haired girl. You could be failing every subject in school because you'd been staring too long, and it just didn't matter at all. So Minako thought, anyway.
Nobody else really seemed to share her fascination. Sure, some people still occasionally glanced at the Hino, but nowadays, they had better things to gossip about than how she didn't talk. Like how Aino Minako spent all her time with her now. How they were seen in places outside of school together. Gasp, shock! Bah, let them have their rumours. So long as she had her Rei, that was all that mattered.
"Rei-chan! Minako-chan!" It was strange, but their ragtag group had become... did she even dare to think it... popular. There was only one change that'd been made to it, and yet, it seemed to give them all the power. Was it because people were afraid of Rei? Enchanted by her now that they thought that she was perhaps a human being? Capable of being spoken to and, as a few had witnessed on occasion, speaking as well?
It made her feel jealous, Minako realized with no small amount of shock. She liked it best when Rei was only speaking to her. When other people couldn't see her talking. It was like... something special. Something that was theirs. And sure, she realized that it was just an everyday function. Like, a part of life you just couldn't get along without, really. You had to communicate somehow.
But the vocal part of Rei was hers. Not to be possessive or anything. Bah, she'd just have to live knowing that people got to hear her voice sometimes. Yeah. That was all.
Rei sent a look her way that she had come to recognize as one of contentment, and she found herself beaming back. Joy. A month of the Martian, only a month, and she was already in it so deep that one look could stop her in her tracks.
***
"Minako-chan?" The blonde glanced upwards, cobalt eyes meeting with a pair of similar ones. There was a difference in their colouring, however – she assumed it was the difference in Venusian and Terrestrial, and always had. Her 'twin' gave a short smile, waving as if saying her name hadn't been enough. "What are you thinking about?"
A small smile crossed her features, knowing it was the same thing she was always thinking about nowadays as she redirected her gaze from Usagi's smiling face. "Oh, you know... things you couldn't understand. Like this math homework."
"Mou... Minako-chaaaan, you never used to be so mean!" the other blonde exclaimed, pouting as she went back to staring at the math before the pair of them. "Besides, I don't see you getting anywhere with it eith - "
"Tsukino-san. Aino-san. May I remind you that this is detention, not your usual after-school activities? You may pick up friendly conversation in an hour, when you're done being punished. That is what detention is for, after all – punishment. In case you've forgotten." Oh, she totally hadn't. This vile waste of time was stealing her from her precious one, after all.
Wow. That sounded a little more creepy than she had intended. Sigh. Was she really getting to be that bad about it?
Ami probably would have said that if she needed to ask herself that question, the answer was yes. It had probably been yes since she realized Rei was someone she was capable of getting to know. Just like any other being on the face of the planet.
She found herself idly sketching on the lined paper, and (much to her horror at the end of detention) her math text. The words 'Aino Rei' littered the page of integrals, those archaic and useless old things. They only learned them for the sake of nostalgia, she was sure of this. Nostalgia for the teachers – remembering each year how they got to exact every kind of educational torture possible on their prey when the time came.
Derivatives weren't bad enough. Though she did remember telling Ami once not to 'drink and derive' before slapping her on the back and laughing hysterically. It had been an excellent pun at the time – and even the stoic Martian had expressed the slightest amount of interest in the joke.
Leaving detention with Usagi by her side, she vowed never to get caught passing notes again. It seriously detracted from her Rei-Interaction Time (hereby referred to as RIT) and forced her to suffer through Wistful-Rei-Thoughts Time (... WRTT?).
She existed within WRTT for the rest of the day, and, sadly, week. She'd become incredibly scarce out of the blue, distancing herself from the group slightly as she took to eating lunch alone again. Usagi mentioned something about her seeming a bit more tired as of late, though never seemed to push the issue. Ami and Makoto merely shrugged.
Minako, however... Minako was stealthy. She was stealthy and she had a right to know. As Rei's number one fan (screw Yuuchirou, that stalking bastard didn't know a thing about her), she had to know.
This was probably what started the most awkward series of confrontations ever.
"Rei-chan! Haven't seen you around lately! Where've you been?"
Shrug.
"Rei-chan! Are you limping? Do you need me to take you to the nurse's office?"
Head shake.
"Rei-chan! You're a distant bitch sometimes, you know that?"
Eyebrow raise.
Okay, so that last one never really happened outside of WRTT (which was quickly becoming 'Fantasize-About-Rei Time – FART, though it was not allowed to be abbreviated as such), but it really should have. She wondered if it would've gotten her anywhere at all, though.
She was about ready to hand Rei a big ol' slice of Aino Minako advice – the kind that involved 'thou shalt not be a bitch to thine friends' – when it had happened. She just hadn't come to school. Usagi said she was sick. Exhausted to the point where she couldn't get out of bed. The doctor who'd been summoned had admitted that it was best for her to take to her bed, and the adorable white cat Minako had become so fond of, Artemis, had stayed by her side every moment.
And the next day, Minako hadn't been at school either. She'd been in Rei's room, kneeling beside her bed and laughing as they slipped back into what the norm was. And she got to hear her voice – tired, as were those beautiful amethyst eyes of hers, but ever the rarity. The blonde found herself falling so hard that she didn't even care when Yuuchirou entered the room to check on them. She did, however, nearly pass out from the sheer joy of seeing the other girl eventually wave him away, annoyed and tired of him in moments.
"Rei-chan," she asked after a moment, seeing sharp acknowledgement in the other's gaze as she held it. "I... I like to think that I know you, at least a little. That we're friends. But sometimes, you just seem to go into this little world of your own, and I feel like I can't follow. And then I just realize how different we are, and it... well, it hurts. Are we really friends? Am I a bother to you? Because I could leave - " A hand grabbed hers, squeezing weakly as cobalt eyes snapped to the form of the exhausted foster child.
"Mina-chan." She'd never said her name like that before – Rei was usually so formal. "You're my best friend. Nothing changes that." Her heart soared, and for a while, she just stayed there, talking to the Martian and seeing her nod or blink. They fell into a comfortable silence when she ran out of things to talk about, waging their own conversation with meaningful glances and the occasional change in facial expression.
September may have been Minako's new favourite month, but October wasn't looking too bad either.
x0x
Alright. =/ Not... sure... how I feel about this chapter. T_T; Wah... next one feels better, though, so we'll see. Drop a review and I'll love you forever. 8D Or, at the very least, get back to you at the end of next chapter. xD;
Claire ; Oooh, why thank you. ^^ I'm trying not to make it entirely one-sided though, as I'm kinda hoping this chapter'll prove. XD
Rikku's twin ; Haha, thanks! ^^ An update for j00 is here. 8D
MinaRayeFan ; Thanks! ^^ I hope this chapter didn't disappoint too much. D:
MavDaddy ; Thanks so much! ^^
WITS ; That's right, you are my review-type snuggle bunny. xD Whom I will get around to PM'ing right after putting up this chapter. 8D No, no, not trying to politely fire you, gah! D: Want to keep you around! *tugs* And yeah, after rereading the last chapter, I definitely see what you mean. =/ There should be a break or something edited in. That part was just... mmmmrrrrrrr... *shakes head* And I do hope the next few chapters will lead to better characterization. I feel like I'm only skimming the surfaces of all of them. =/ Welp. We shall see, ne? It will be so much easier once – I mean, I'm not giving out plot spoilers, noooo...
SM ; Thank you! ^^ Tee hee... sorry, but I am not at liberty to discuss those questions just yet. ;D Guess you'll just have to wait and see, hm? Suspense!
Spikesagitta ; Yep, Crystal Tokyo is destroyed. So, yes, this is the future. And it was indeed the one that was supposed to last forever. Key word – supposed, I do suppose. xD As for whether or not the senshi are even needed... well, Mars is awake. As for the others... guess you'll have to wait and see.
Anonymous ; Aw, thank you! =D I hope you'll continue to like it as much as it rolls on. ^^ The only thing I'm going to directly put to rest is the suspicion that Artemis might leave Rei for Minako when/if such a time ever comes. I'm going to assure you and all the other readers that Artemis is Rei's this time around. And as to whether she'll remain the only one or not... well, you'll see soon enough, I suppose!
ChrisGranger ; Thanks! And as for her joining soon... I'm going to play dumb and say I don't know what on Earth you're talking about. ;D
LunarMiko07 ; Thank you! ^^ Here's another chapter, I suppose. Let me know how you like it?